A role for the cortex in sleep-wake regulation

The cortex and subcortical circuitry are thought to play distinct roles in the generation of sleep oscillations and global control of vigilance states. Here we show in mice that cell-specific ablation of the key t-SNARE protein SNAP25 in a subset of cortical layer 5 pyramidal and dentate gyrus granule cells results in a marked increase in wakefulness accompanied by a reduced rebound of EEG slow-wave activity after sleep deprivation. The data suggest an important role of the cortex in both global state control and sleep homeostasis.