Sleep is broadly and ubiquitously seen across most animals, and is a crucial physiological function to maintain their lives. For humans living in a modern society, where various social constraints exist, it is often difficult to obey our natural sleep desire, and the harmful effects of this are found everywhere. Sleep shortage is thought to be associated with major social problems, such as mental disorders, economic losses due to a decline in the labor force, and accidents induced by insufficient sleep. Because of this, medical and social interventions to improve sleep disorders and sleep disturbances are essential.
To tackle these problems, understanding the mechanisms and functions of sleep is necessary. However, fundamental questions about sleep such as why we sleep, what mechanisms control sleep, and what happens in the sleeping brain, still remain a mystery. On the other hand, recent development of novel genetic and experimental tools allow us to acquire and analyze sleep with high temporal and spatial resolution. Resulting in new insights into the individual elements that are important for sleep and the circadian clock. Neuropeptides are known to play important roles in sleep and wakefulness regulation and research into these peptides has made major breakthroughs in sleep research. Analysis of neuropeptides involved in sleep and the circadian clock is thought to be a useful approach to elucidate the aforementioned questions. As well as providing new avenues for the pharmacological treatment of sleep disorders through targeting the G-protein coupled receptors that they act on.
The goal of the Research Topic is to gather original research articles, review articles, methods, and commentaries about neuropeptides involved in sleep/wakefulness states and the circadian clock. In particular, we welcome papers that contribute to elucidations of the physiological function of sleep, such as the maintenance of wakefulness or sleep, regulation of the transition between sleep/wakefulness states, the regulatory mechanism of sleep amount, and sleep homeostasis, and sleep and circadian rhythm disorders in all animals. We also welcome neuropharmacological studies related to neuropeptides that regulate sleep or the circadian clock.
Sleep is broadly and ubiquitously seen across most animals, and is a crucial physiological function to maintain their lives. For humans living in a modern society, where various social constraints exist, it is often difficult to obey our natural sleep desire, and the harmful effects of this are found everywhere. Sleep shortage is thought to be associated with major social problems, such as mental disorders, economic losses due to a decline in the labor force, and accidents induced by insufficient sleep. Because of this, medical and social interventions to improve sleep disorders and sleep disturbances are essential.
To tackle these problems, understanding the mechanisms and functions of sleep is necessary. However, fundamental questions about sleep such as why we sleep, what mechanisms control sleep, and what happens in the sleeping brain, still remain a mystery. On the other hand, recent development of novel genetic and experimental tools allow us to acquire and analyze sleep with high temporal and spatial resolution. Resulting in new insights into the individual elements that are important for sleep and the circadian clock. Neuropeptides are known to play important roles in sleep and wakefulness regulation and research into these peptides has made major breakthroughs in sleep research. Analysis of neuropeptides involved in sleep and the circadian clock is thought to be a useful approach to elucidate the aforementioned questions. As well as providing new avenues for the pharmacological treatment of sleep disorders through targeting the G-protein coupled receptors that they act on.
The goal of the Research Topic is to gather original research articles, review articles, methods, and commentaries about neuropeptides involved in sleep/wakefulness states and the circadian clock. In particular, we welcome papers that contribute to elucidations of the physiological function of sleep, such as the maintenance of wakefulness or sleep, regulation of the transition between sleep/wakefulness states, the regulatory mechanism of sleep amount, and sleep homeostasis, and sleep and circadian rhythm disorders in all animals. We also welcome neuropharmacological studies related to neuropeptides that regulate sleep or the circadian clock.
