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We're discussing mental wellness issues this week on Healthwatch. Previously, we learned about new insights into what makes us sleepy. Doctors at UT Southwestern Medical Center are doing even more to unravel the mysteries of sleep by mapping neural connections in the brain.
Researchers studied brain cells that produce a chemical that keeps us awake. While they'd been able to track how those cells send signals to other cells, a new technique allowed them to see how other cells communicate with the chemical-producing cells.
Dr. Masashi Yanagisawa, a UT Southwestern molecular geneticist, says they found that neurons associated with keeping us asleep sent signals to these wakefulness cells, preventing them from releasing their chemicals during sleep periods. Meanwhile, during wakeful times, the wakefulness cells signal sleep-related cells to inhibit their activity.
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June 2005
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