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Sleep is important for memory consolidation and is responsive to waking experience. Clock circuitry is uniquely positioned to coordinate interactions between processes underlying memory and sleep need. Flies increase sleep both after exposure to an enriched social environment and after protocols that induce long-term memory. We found that flies mutant for rutabaga, period, and blistered were deficient for experience-dependent increases in sleep. Rescue of each of these genes within the ventral lateral neurons (LNVs) restores increased sleep after social enrichment. Social experiences that induce increased sleep were associated with an increase in the number of synaptic terminals in the LNV projections into the medulla. The number of synaptic terminals was reduced during sleep and this decline was prevented by sleep deprivation.

Original publication

DOI

10.1126/science.1166657

Type

Journal article

Journal

Science

Publication Date

03/04/2009

Volume

324

Pages

105 - 108

Keywords

Adenylyl Cyclases, Animals, Biological Clocks, Brain, Circadian Rhythm, Drosophila Proteins, Drosophila melanogaster, ErbB Receptors, Female, Genes, Insect, Male, Memory, Models, Animal, Mutation, Neuronal Plasticity, Neurons, Nuclear Proteins, Period Circadian Proteins, Presynaptic Terminals, Receptors, Invertebrate Peptide, Serum Response Factor, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, Social Behavior, Synapses