eLife (Sep 2017)

Regulation of sleep homeostasis by sexual arousal

  • Esteban J Beckwith,
  • Quentin Geissmann,
  • Alice S French,
  • Giorgio F Gilestro

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.27445
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6

Abstract

Read online

In all animals, sleep pressure is under continuous tight regulation. It is universally accepted that this regulation arises from a two-process model, integrating both a circadian and a homeostatic controller. Here we explore the role of environmental social signals as a third, parallel controller of sleep homeostasis and sleep pressure. We show that, in Drosophila melanogaster males, sleep pressure after sleep deprivation can be counteracted by raising their sexual arousal, either by engaging the flies with prolonged courtship activity or merely by exposing them to female pheromones.

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