Sleeping mouse (stock image). “What is amazing is finding the same mechanism for sleep-wake cycle control in an insect and a mammal,” said Matthieu Flourakis, the lead author of the study. “Mice are nocturnal, and flies are diurnal, or active during the day, but their sleep-wake cycles are controlled in the same way.” Credit: © Iosif Szasz-Fabian / Fotolia
In studies of fruit flies and mice and the brain circadian neurons governing the daily sleep-wake cycle’s timing, the researchers found that high sodium channel activity in these neurons during the day turn the cells on and ultimately awaken an animal, and high potassium channel activity at night turn them off, allowing the animal to sleep.
“This suggests the underlying mechanism controlling our sleep-wake cycle is ancient,” said Prof...
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