Basal ganglia circuitry that interlinks sleep, insomnia and anxiety

Poor sleep and anxiety affect many people worldwide.

One hypothesis is that good sleep reduces the impact of stress, and that poor sleep may itself trigger serious depression.

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep may be particularly important in promoting emotional resilience and guarding against depression.

We have discovered new circuitry in the hypothalamus and basal ganglia that contributes to generating REM sleep, and this circuitry overlaps with circuitry that regulates stress, depression and motor movements.

Can this circuitry be exploited to learn about the function of REM sleep, and ultimately improve mental health by lowering stress and anxiety levels?

Three of the brain regions we have found to regulate sleep-wake states (the lateral habenula, the entopeduncular nucleus, and the subthalamic nucleus) are already used clinically to treat Parkinson's disease via deep brain stimulation, to alleviate major depression or motor symptoms. Some patients report that deep brain stimulation at the three sites we mention above also improves their sleep.

On the other hand, deep-brain stimulation in these regions can also trigger depression/anxiety.

Therefore, we plan to understand more about the parallel wiring in this complex system, and isolate the specific sleep-inducing components. It may be possible, for example, to selectively enhance REM sleep. Currently our work is at a "blue skies" phase.

But understanding more about how sleep could boost emotional resilience and feelings of well-being could ultimately improve human health, both in patients living with severe depression and posttraumatic stress disorder and those living with neurodegenerative disease.