RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Unraveling why we sleep: Quantitative analysis reveals abrupt transition from neural reorganization to repair in early development
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaba0398
DO 10.1126/sciadv.aba0398
VO 6
IS 38
A1 Cao, Junyu
A1 Herman, Alexander B.
A1 West, Geoffrey B.
A1 Poe, Gina
A1 Savage, Van M.
YR 2020
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/38/eaba0398.abstract
AB Sleep serves disparate functions, most notably neural repair, metabolite clearance and circuit reorganization. Yet the relative importance remains hotly debated. Here, we create a novel mechanistic framework for understanding and predicting how sleep changes during ontogeny and across phylogeny. We use this theory to quantitatively distinguish between sleep used for neural reorganization versus repair. Our findings reveal an abrupt transition, between 2 and 3 years of age in humans. Specifically, our results show that differences in sleep across phylogeny and during late ontogeny (after 2 or 3 years in humans) are primarily due to sleep functioning for repair or clearance, while changes in sleep during early ontogeny (before 2 or 3 years) primarily support neural reorganization and learning. Moreover, our analysis shows that neuroplastic reorganization occurs primarily in REM sleep but not in NREM. This developmental transition suggests a complex interplay between developmental and evolutionary constraints on sleep.