REM sleep promotes bidirectional plasticity in developing visual cortex in vivo

Ontogenesis of the molecular response to sleep loss

“…In rodents, this overlaps with critical periods (CP), which are developmental ages when the brain is exquisitely plastic and sensitive to changes in experience (Frank, 2011b, 2004). For example, sleep loss in mice during the visual CP impairs cortical plasticity necessary for normal development of binocular vision (Renouard et al, 2022, this issue; Zhou et al, 2020). Consistent with CPs in complex behavior, sleep disruption in early life leads to persistent alterations in social interactions and cognition in wild type rodents (voles) and in an autism mouse model (Jones et al, 2021, 2019; Lord et al, 2022; Milman et al, 2023).…”

Remembering and forgetting in sleep: Selective synaptic plasticity during sleep driven by scaling factors Homer1a and Arc

“…Whether synapses become strengthened or weakened during sleep has been a topic of controversy, with compelling evidence for the occurrence of both. It is highly probable that the restorative benefits of sleep are mediated by the coordination of multiple plasticity types ( Renouard et al, 2022 ). The reader is recommended to excellent recent studies and reviews on plasticity types expressed during sleep including mechanisms of plasticity selection ( Frank and Heller, 2019 ; Miyamoto et al, 2021 ; Cary and Turrigiano, 2021 ; Ode and Ueda, 2020 ; Seibt and Frank, 2019 ).…”

Loss of sleep when it is needed most – Consequences of persistent developmental sleep disruption: A scoping review of rodent models

“…Proper inhibitory tone is responsible for closing of critical periods, rearing in complete darkness abolishes the developmental reduction in LTP in 5-week old rats ( Kirkwood et al, 1995 ). In this issue, two-photon imaging of excitatory neurons in primary visual cortex of 3-week old mice that underwent monocular-deprivation shows that REM sleep disruption leads to increased cortical firing to the deprived eye, disrupting ODP ( Renouard et al, 2022 ). Levels of calcium/calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII), a recognized marker of synaptic plasticity was reduced in the PFC of P33 and P90 male rats who were sleep-disrupted between P19-32 ( Atrooz et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Finally, a recent systematic review of the animal literature created a mechanistic mathematical model and found that the function of sleep switches from neural reorganization (synaptic maintenance and myelination) to neural repair (clearance of metabolites) estimated around 2.4 years of age in humans ( Renouard et al, 2022 ). Maintenance of spines as discussed above is consistent with this model in which neural reorganization preferentially occurs during REM sleep prior to the human equivalent of 2.4 years of age.…”