From illness to rest: neural circuits linking sickness and sleep.

In a recent study, Darmohray et al. identified a brainstem pathway underlying sickness-induced sleep in mice. The authors demonstrated that immune-activated circuits in the nucleus of the solitary tract suppress wake-promoting norepinephrine signaling to promote nonrapid eye movement sleep. These findings help elucidate the neural mechanisms of sickness-induced sleep and provide new insights into sleep-immune interactions.