Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2021 Jul 1;15:664781. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.664781

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

Copyright © 2021 Rothhaas and Chung.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

PMC Copyright notice

Afferent and efferent projections of sleep regulatory POA neurons. Sleep promoting GABAergic POA neurons inhibit histamine neurons in the tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN). In turn, histaminergic TMN neurons project to the POA, and histamine indirectly inhibits putative VLPO sleep neurons. POA GABAergic neurons also densely project to the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and directly inhibit hypocretin/orexin (Hcrt/Orx) neurons. The POA in turn receives inputs from the LH, and a small fraction of neurons contain melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) or Hcrt/Orx. GABAergic neurons in the LH also directly innervate POA galanin neurons. The POA receives inputs from dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) galanin neurons that are NREM promoting and REM suppressing. POA neurons project to brainstem regions such as the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), raphe nuclei (DRN, MRN), laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT), and locus coeruleus (LC). In turn, the POA receives inputs from these brain stem regions. Molecular markers labeling sleep regulatory POA neurons are galanin (GAL), tachykinin 1 (TAC1), cholecystokinin (CCK), and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). Most sleep neurons are GABAergic and express GAD (glutamic acid decarboxylase). Sagittal brain scheme adapted from Allen Mouse Brain Atlas (©Allen Brain Atlas API. Available from http://api.brain-map.org).