The Role of Sleep in the Reorganization of the Cerebral Cortex

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Recently, the relationship between sleep-wake rhythm and synaptic plasticity is investigated by many sleep researchers. They suggest that the synaptic connection became stronger during wakefulness and became weaker during sleep. In order to confirm this suggestion, we performed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from layer II/III pyramidal neurons of somatosensory cortex in acute slices of the rats that had been awake or asleep. We found that i) current-voltage relationship of EPSCs showed inward rectification, and ii) eEPSCs were depressed by Philanthotoxin 74, which is antagonist of Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptors, in slices of spontaneously waking and sleep-deprived animals. Both results show that amount of Ca2+permeable AMPA receptors, which plays crucial role in synaptic plasticity, are high during wakefulness. These strongly suggest that synapses become widely potentiated during wakefulness and were downscaled during sleep.