Scientists find neural switch that turns dreams on and off

Researchers UC Berkeley have discovered neural switch that turns dreams on and off. Like this rabbit, at the flip of a switch, neuroscientists can send a sleeping mouse into dreamland. See more at the UC Research Tumblr: http://ucresearch.tumblr.com/…/scientists-find-neural-switc…

Scientists find neural switch that turns dreams on and off

At the flip of a switch, UC Berkeley neuroscientists can send a sleeping mouse into dreamland.

The researchers inserted an optogenetic switch into a group of nerve cells located in the ancient part of the brain called the medulla, allowing them to activate or inactivate the neurons with laser light.

When the neurons were activated, sleeping mice entered REM sleep within seconds. REM sleep, characterized by rapid eye movements, is the dream state in mammals accompanied by activation of the cortex and total paralysis of the skeletal muscles, presumably so that we don’t act out the dreams flashing through our mind.

The discovery will not only help scientists better understand the complex role of sleep and dreaming in the brain, but may help us learn why we dream in the first place.

“Many psychiatric disorders, especially mood disorders, are correlated with changes in REM sleep, and some widely used drugs affect REM sleep, so it seems to be a sensitive indicator of mental and emotional health,” said first author Franz Weber, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow. “We are hoping that studying the sleep circuit might lead us to new insights into these disorders as well as neurological diseases that affect sleep, like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.”