Optogenetics: Solving the enigma of sleep

Abstract

Sleep is a crucial and evolutionarily conserved phenomenon, but the mechanisms that control sleepwake behavior and underlie sleep disorders are not yet fully understood. One major challenge for sleep research was the lack of technology that allows for cell-type- and circuit-specific investigation of neurons and neural circuitry. A decade ago, a novel methodology known as optogenetics was developed, which uses light to control specific cell types of neurons, either to activate or inhibit neuronal firings. The strength of optogenetics in neuroscience is the precise control of neuronal activities in millisecond scale and the ability to dissect the neural circuits and cell types to understand their functions. There have been substantial advancements made in the field of sleep research through the implementation of optogenetics. This review provides a brief introduction on the optogenetics and a consolidated summary of recent findings published in sleep research using optogenetics.