Stress disrupts sleep and memory through a neural pathway in male mice

Stress worsens sleep quality and can impair memory. Shinjae Chung, from the University of Pennsylvania, led a study to explore a neural pathway in male mice that stress may influence to cause sleep and memory disturbances. 

In their JNeurosci paper, the researchers artificially activated neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) that were previously linked to stress. This experimental manipulation made mice sleep less and impaired how well mice performed in a memory task. Notably, when mice were stressed, artificially inhibiting these PVN neurons reduced stress-related memory issues while slightly improving sleep. 

Further probing what neural pathway may be involved, Chung and colleagues discovered that stress and artificial activation of the PVN neurons separately targeted another brain region called the lateral hypothalamus (LH). Bridging their findings together, the researchers found that this neural pathway from the PVN to the LH may be involved in stress-related memory impairment and sleep disruptions. 

According to the researchers, this neural pathway may inform future work exploring ways to improve sleep and cognitive deficits associated with stress-related disorders, at least in males.