A Tiny Cortical Switch Orchestrates Sleep Across the Brain
A Nature study identifies a rare group of cortical inhibitory neurons (Sst-Chodl) that can initiate sleep across the brain. In mice, activating these cells drives delta waves and REM sleep, shortens time to fall asleep, and influences distant brain regions, suggesting the cortex can actively trigger sleep and may sense sleep pressure—a finding with implications for sleep disorders and future research on brain-wide sleep control.