Open AccessSleep‐active cells in the cerebral cortex and their role in slow‐wave activity
Author(s) -
GERASHCHENKO Dmitry,
WISOR Jonathan P,
KILDUFF Thomas S
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
sleep and biological rhythms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1479-8425
pISSN - 1446-9235
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-8425.2010.00461.x
Subject(s) - neuroscience , cerebral cortex , neuroscience of sleep , slow wave sleep , sleep (system call) , cortex (anatomy) , neurology , sleep spindle , psychology , biology , electroencephalography , computer science , operating system
We recently identified neurons in the cerebral cortex that become activated during sleep episodes with high slow‐wave activity (SWA). The distinctive properties of these neurons are the ability to produce nitric oxide and their long‐range projections within the cortex. In this review, we discuss how these characteristics of sleep‐active cells could be relevant to SWA production in the cortex. We also discuss possible models of the role of nNOS cells in SWA production.