英国帝国理工学院Giorgio F. Gilestro团队揭示黑腹果蝇睡眠期间的感觉处理。这一研究成果于2021年9月29日在线发表在国际学术期刊《自然》上。

研究人员提出了一个范式来研究黑腹果蝇睡眠期间感官辨别的功能基础。结果表明，睡眠中的果蝇，像人类一样，能辨别感觉刺激的质量，并更有可能对突出的刺激作出反应而醒来。研究人员还表明，睡眠期间刺激的显著性可以被内部状态所调控。研究人员提供了一个原型蓝图，详细说明了参与这一过程的回路及其调节，并证明该系统可用于探索睡眠中的大脑如何体验世界的细胞基础。

据悉，在睡眠过程中，大多数动物物种进入一种意识减弱的状态，其特点是明显的感觉脱节。然而，鉴于沉睡的动物可以被强烈的刺激（例如，巨大的噪音或明亮的光线）或柔和但明确的刺激（例如，婴儿的叫声或听到自己的名字）唤醒，因此对外部世界的一些处理必须保持完整。睡眠中的大脑如何保持处理感官信息质量的能力仍未知。

附：英文原文

Title: Sensory processing during sleep in Drosophila melanogaster

Author: French, Alice S., Geissmann, Quentin, Beckwith, Esteban J., Gilestro, Giorgio F.

Issue&Volume: 2021-09-29

Abstract: During sleep, most animal species enter a state of reduced consciousness characterized by a marked sensory disconnect. Yet some processing of the external world must remain intact, given that a sleeping animal can be awoken by intense stimuli (for example, a loud noise or a bright light) or by soft but qualitatively salient stimuli (for example, the sound of a baby cooing or hearing one’s own name1,2,3). How does a sleeping brain retain the ability to process the quality of sensory information Here we present a paradigm to study the functional underpinnings of sensory discrimination during sleep in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that sleeping vinegar flies, like humans, discern the quality of sensory stimuli and are more likely to wake up in response to salient stimuli. We also show that the salience of a stimulus during sleep can be modulated by internal states. We offer a prototypical blueprint detailing a circuit involved in this process and its modulation as evidence that the system can be used to explore the cellular underpinnings of how a sleeping brain experiences the world.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03954-w

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03954-w