Figure 1. Brain regions modulating sleep and wakefulness.
Sagittal drawing of the rat brain (modified from197) schematizes the location, shape, and size of some brain regions that regulate sleep and wakefulness. The name of each brain region appears in bold print, the major neurotransmitters used for signaling to other brain regions are in parentheses, and neurochemical analytes relevant for arousal-state control that have been measured in that brain region are listed under the header “Quantified”. The microdialysis probe is drawn to scale and is shown sampling from the prefrontal cortex. Abbreviations: XII – hypoglossal nucleus; BF – basal forebrain; DRN – dorsal raphé nucleus; LC – locus coeruleus; LDT – laterodorsal tegmental nucleus; LH – lateral hypothalamus; MPO – medial preoptic area; PFC – prefrontal cortex; PPT – pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus; PnC – pontine reticular formation, caudal part; PnO – pontine reticular formation, oral part; TMN – tuberomamillary nucleus; TNC – trigeminal nucleus complex; VLPO – ventrolateral preoptic area; VTA – ventral tegmental area; 5HT – serotonin; ACh – acetylcholine; Ado – adenosine; Asp – aspartate; DA – dopamine; GABA – γ-aminobutyric acid; Glu – glutamate; Gly – glycine; His – histamine; Hcrt – hypocretin; NE – norepinephrine; NO – nitric oxide; Noc – nociceptin; Ser – serine; 5HT – serotonin; Tau – taurine. Figure reprinted from Watson et al., 20101 with permission.