REM sleep stabilizes hypothalamic representation of feeding behavior

Abstract

During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, behavioral unresponsiveness contrasts strongly with intense brain-wide neural network dynamics. Yet, the physiological functions of this cellular activation remain unclear. Using in vivo calcium imaging in freely behaving mice, we found that inhibitory neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (LH^vgat) show unique activity patterns during feeding that are reactivated during REM, but not non-REM, sleep. REM sleep-specific optogenetic silencing of LH^vgat cells induced a reorganization of these activity patterns during subsequent feeding behaviors accompanied by decreased food intake. Our findings provide evidence for a role for REM sleep in the maintenance of cellular representations of feeding behavior.