Study Finds ‘Slumber Switch’ Inside the Brain

A “slumber switch” buried in the brain slips an alert mind into deep and restful sleep, say Harvard researchers, who believe the discovery may lead to drugs to end insomnia.

In experiments with rats, brain researchers found that during sleep most of the nerve cells of the brain are turned off by some signal sent out by a group of cells in the hypothalamus.

By tracing the signals, the researchers found that a neuron group called the ventrolateral pre-optic area, or VLPO, acts as a “slumber switch,” said Dr. Clifford Saper, chief neurologist at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

“This little subgroup of cells essentially turns out the lights in the brain and lets it go to sleep,” Saper said. “It’s like turning a master switch--a slumber switch.”

A report on the sleep research is being published today in the journal Science.