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Center for Translational Neuroscience Distinguished Lecture Series. Tuesday , May 14, 12 noon Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II Bldg. “ Cortical nNOS Neurons as Critical Elements in Sleep Homeostasis ” Thomas S. Kilduff , PhD Director, Center for Neuroscience
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Center for Translational Neuroscience Distinguished Lecture Series Tuesday, May 14, 12 noon Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II Bldg. “Cortical nNOS Neurons as Critical Elements in Sleep Homeostasis ” Thomas S. Kilduff, PhD Director, Center for Neuroscience Stanford Research Institute International Stanford University Menlo Park, CA
Sleep is a homeostatic regulated process across the animal kingdom. In mammals, the hallmark of sleep homeostasis is slow wave activity measured in the electroencephalogram (EEG). The Two Process Model of Homeostatic Sleep Regulation, integrating circadian and sleep components, was proposed in the early 1980s by Alexander Borbely. Although the circadian component was known at the time to involve the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus and the circadian timing system, the anatomical substrate of the “sleep homeostat” has been elusive. I will review the evidence that has been accumulating over the past several years that cortical nNOS neurons link subcortical sleep “drive” to cortical slow wave activity and are thus critical elements in sleep homeostasis.