Summary
This thesis characterizes sleep and circadian disruption in two schizophrenia-relevant mouse models, finding that Grm2/3-/- mice (lacking mGlu2/3 receptors) exhibit reduced sleep duration, increased sleep fragmentation, and heightened sensitivity to light's circadian effects, supporting a 'shared neuropathophysiology' hypothesis linking schizophrenia and sleep disruption. These findings suggest that lighting interventions targeting circadian entrainment could be relevant for schizophrenia patients experiencing sleep disruption, and highlight the importance of glutamatergic signaling in circadian light sensitivity.
Key Findings
- Grm2/3-/- mice showed significant SCRD characterized by reduced sleep duration and increased sleep fragmentation compared to wild-type controls.
- Grm2/3-/- mice displayed increased sensitivity to the circadian effects of light, consistent with mGlu2/3 involvement in photic entrainment pathways.
- Dao-/- mice showed no evidence of sleep or circadian rhythm disruption, but exhibited increased anxiety-like behavior and enhanced short-term memory performance.
- Grm2/3-/- mice showed perturbed wheel-running rhythms under standard light/dark cycles, but normal home-cage activity rhythms without a running wheel, raising methodological concerns about circadian assays in psychiatric mouse models.
Categories
Sleep & Circadian Health: Characterizes sleep and circadian rhythm disruption (SCRD) in schizophrenia-relevant mouse models, finding significant sleep fragmentation and reduced sleep duration in Grm2/3-/- mice.
The Science of Light: Grm2/3-/- mice showed increased sensitivity to the circadian effects of light, informing understanding of how glutamatergic pathways interact with light-based circadian entrainment.
Author(s)
D Pritchett
Publication Year
2015
Related Publications
Sleep & Circadian Health
- Phototransduction by retinal ganglion cells that set the circadian clock
- The mammalian circadian timing system: organization and coordination of central and peripheral clocks
- The twoāprocess model of sleep regulation: a reappraisal
- Melanopsin is required for non-image-forming photic responses in blind mice
- Strange vision: ganglion cells as circadian photoreceptors
The Science of Light
- Phototransduction by retinal ganglion cells that set the circadian clock
- Color appearance models
- The mammalian circadian timing system: organization and coordination of central and peripheral clocks
- Diminished pupillary light reflex at high irradiances in melanopsin-knockout mice
- Melanopsin is required for non-image-forming photic responses in blind mice