Wide-spread brain activation and reduced CSF flow during avian REM sleep

Gianina Ungurean (), Mehdi Behroozi (), Leonard Böger, Xavier Helluy, Paul-Antoine Libourel, Onur Güntürkün and Niels C. Rattenborg
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Gianina Ungurean: Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence
Mehdi Behroozi: Ruhr-University Bochum
Leonard Böger: Max Planck Institute for the Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar
Xavier Helluy: Ruhr-University Bochum
Paul-Antoine Libourel: Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
Onur Güntürkün: Ruhr-University Bochum
Niels C. Rattenborg: Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Mammalian sleep has been implicated in maintaining a healthy extracellular environment in the brain. During wakefulness, neuronal activity leads to the accumulation of toxic proteins, which the glymphatic system is thought to clear by flushing cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) through the brain. In mice, this process occurs during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. In humans, ventricular CSF flow has also been shown to increase during NREM sleep, as visualized using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The link between sleep and CSF flow has not been studied in birds before. Using fMRI of naturally sleeping pigeons, we show that REM sleep, a paradoxical state with wake-like brain activity, is accompanied by the activation of brain regions involved in processing visual information, including optic flow during flight. We further demonstrate that ventricular CSF flow increases during NREM sleep, relative to wakefulness, but drops sharply during REM sleep. Consequently, functions linked to brain activation during REM sleep might come at the expense of waste clearance during NREM sleep.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38669-1

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