FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN NEUROSCIENCE SOCIETIES
9th FENS Forum of Neuroscience
5-9 July 2014 – Milan, Italy
http://fens2014.neurosciences.asso.fr/
PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL SUNDAY 6 JULY 2014, 14:00 CEST / 13:00 BST
HOW DO WE FALL ASLEEP? FRUIT FLIES AND OPTOGENETICS HELP EXPLAIN
Optogenetics, an innovative research technique using light to influence living cells, is enabling
neuroscientists literally to illuminate how we fall sleep. Professor Gero Miesenböck, director
of the University of Oxford’s Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, used this increasingly
widespread technique, in fruit flies, to uncover a 'switch' that tells the brain to fall asleep.
Optogenetic technology, pioneered by Professor Miesenböck, uses light to control brain activity.
Simply by shining light on the brain, scientists can turn groups of nerve cells on and off and
examine how brain circuits electrically communicate with each other — in living animals, in realtime.
Speaking today (6 July) at a lecture by selected recipients of the Grete Lundbeck European
Brain Research Foundation's Brain Prize 2013, which was awarded for the ‘invention and
refinement of optogenetics’, Professor Miesenböck described his research applying optogenetics
to better understand sleep. The UK research team he led found that in fruit flies, specific sleeptracking brain cells activate at a key point, triggering slumber. Similar sleep cells and
mechanisms are likely to exist in humans as well, he noted.
Switching this cluster of sleep-promoting neurons on optogenetically causes flies to fall asleep.
Professor Miesenböck's team discovered a gene necessary for the proper function of these
neurons. Mutating this gene leads to insomnia-like symptoms and an inability to sense and
correct sleep deficits. Because of their inability to sleep normally, mutant flies have severe
learning and memory deficits, much like people do after staying awake all night.
The research suggests that the sleep-promoting neurons are crucial elements of a system called
the sleep homeostat. "The sleep homeostat does something similar, in principle, to the
thermostat in your home," said Professor Miesenböck. "A thermostat measures temperature and
switches on the heating if it’s too cold. The sleep homeostat measures how long you have been
awake, and puts you to sleep if you exceed your limit."
In normal situations, as 'sleep debt' accumulates, so does the electrical activity of the sleep
neurons. But in fruit flies, when this crucial link in the brain's electrical pathway was disrupted,
the switch was trapped in an 'off' position, resulting in insomnia.
Professor Miesenböck believes these findings deepen understanding of sleep regulation in
general. “By actually seeing how sleep deprivation works in the brain, we can better identify
what might need to be changed to reverse or make these mechanisms work better," he said.
Because optogenetic techniques allow scientists to activate neurons in such specific areas, the
insights gained may advance sleep research in mammals and humans. Chronic insomnia and
other sleep disorders can affect memory, learning, and cognitive function; and are increasingly
linked to wide-ranging and long-term health problems. Optogenetic methods provide tools to
guide better understanding of human sleep, which may point towards future treatment
approaches for sleep disorders.
END
Abstract Reference SL01.3: Lighting Up the Brain
Symposia R10266: Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Foundation/The Brain Prize 2013
Contact
FENS Press Office and all media enquiries:
Elaine Snell, Snell Communications Ltd, London UK (English language)
tel: +44 (0)20 7738 0424 or mobile +44 (0)7973 953 794
email: Elaine@snell-communications.net
Mauro Scanu (Italian language)
tel: +39 333 161 5477
email: press.office@fens.org
Professor Gero Miesenböck gero.miesenboeck@cncb.ox.ac.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
The 9th FENS Forum of Neuroscience, the largest basic neuroscience meeting in Europe,
organised by FENS and hosted by the The Società Italiana di Neuroscienze (SINS) (Italian
Society for Neuroscience) will attract an estimated 5,500 international delegates. The
Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), founded in 1998, aims to advance
research and education in neuroscience, representing neuroscience research in the European
Commission and other granting bodies. FENS represents 42 national and mono-disciplinary
neuroscience societies with close to 23,000 member scientists from 32 European countries.
http://fens2014.neurosciences.asso.fr/
Further Reading (Miesenböck)
Neuronal machinery of sleep homeostasis in Drosophila. JM Donlea, D Pimentel, G Miesenböck.
Neuron. 2014; 81: 860-872.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.12.013
Lighting up the brain. G Miesenböck. Scientific American. 2008; 299: 52–59.
DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican1008-52