Challenging a widely accepted notion that the brain controls all aspects of sleep, new research shows that a protein in the muscle can lessen the effects of sleep loss in mice.
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According to a Study:
- The finding, published in the journal eLife.
- Gives scientists a new target besides the brain to develop therapies for people with excessive sleepiness.
- “This finding is completely unexpected and changes the ways we think sleep is controlled,” said Joseph Takahashi.
- Takahashi is the Chairman of Neuroscience at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the US.
- The research demonstrated how a circadian clock protein in the muscle – BMAL1 – regulates the length and manner of sleep.
- While the protein’s presence or absence in the brain had little effect on sleep recovery.
- In addition,mice with higher levels of BMAL1 in their muscles recovered from sleep deprivation more quickly.
- In addition, removing BMAL1 from the muscle severely disrupted normal sleep, leading to an increased need for sleep, deeper sleep, and a reduced ability to recover.
- The finding may eventually lead to therapies that could benefit people in occupations requiring long stretches of wakefulness, from military to airline piloting.
- These studies show that factors in muscles can signal to the brain to influence sleep.
- If similar pathways exist in people, this would provide new drug targets for the treatment of sleep disorders,Takahashi said.
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