7月8日に担当いたします、神経科学研究部の志牟田です。
明日は、以下の論文を紹介いたします。
Noradrenergic infraslow rhythm during sleep is the critical link between heart-rate dynamics and memory consolidationJacobsen et al., 2026 eLife 15
Abstract
Recent work shows that the brain’s arousal system remains active during sleep, with rhythmiclocus coeruleus (LC) activity shaping sleep architecture and supporting memory consolidation. TheLC releases norepinephrine (NE) in infraslow (∼0.02 Hz) bouts that gate NREM sleep spindles.Here, we demonstrate that heart rate (HR) fluctuations during NREM are tightly phase-locked tothese NE rhythms, identifying the LC as a key driver of very-low-frequency HR variability (VLF-HRV), an understudied autonomic signal. Using optogenetics, transient LC inhibition blunts HRslowing, whereas LC activation produces rapid HR acceleration, directly linking LC output tocardiac control during sleep. We further show that infraslow HR variability is a cross-speciesmarker of spindle-dependent memory processing. In mice, the amplitude of HR decelerationsduring NREM predicts spindle activity and subsequent memory performance. Remarkably, humansleepers show the same pattern: stronger VLF-HR fluctuations during NREM correspond toincreased spindle expression and better overnight memory retention. These findings reveal amechanistic pathway through which LC activity modulates autonomic physiology during sleep andidentify infraslow HR variability as a non-invasive marker of brainstem function and memory-promoting sleep. Because LC degeneration occurs early in neurodegenerative disease, sleep-derived HR metrics may provide a scalable indicator of emerging neuromodulatory dysfunction.
どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。
志牟田美佐
〒105-8461 東京都港区西新橋3-25-8
東京慈恵会医科大学 神経科学研究部
電話 0570-053333 内線2396