09-05-2024 | Antidepressant Drugs | Research Highlight
Dopamine Switches Affective States Under Acute Sleep Deprivation
Authors:
Zhou-Cai Luo, Tian-Ming Gao
Published in:
Neuroscience Bulletin
|
Issue 8/2024
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Excerpt
The transition of affective states manifests affective regulation, wherein individuals adaptively adjust their emotional states to cope with changes in the external environment, reflecting their sensitivity and adaptability to environmental shifts. The process of affective state transition is complex, involving both instantaneous and persistent changes influenced by environmental, behavioral, and pharmacological factors. The underlying neural mechanisms encompass alterations in neurotransmitter release, neural circuit activity, and the plasticity of brain structures [
1]. Affective state transitions are closely linked to emotional disorders, and research indicates that the emotion-regulating brain regions, such as the ventral dorsal raphe nucleus and the prefrontal lobe, play a crucial role in generating and regulating affective states [
2]. However, the mechanisms underlying the flexibility of these transitions remain unclear. Elucidating the neural regulatory pathways behind affective state transitions is vital for understanding the pathogenesis of emotional disorders. Studies have shown that the disruption of sleep can reduce prosocial behaviors, increase social avoidance, amplify negative emotional states, and even exacerbate mood disorders [
3]. In addition, recent research has found that mild sleep deprivation (SD) can improve the mood of specific individuals, including those with severe depression [
4], suggesting that sleep loss can induce changes in affective states. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the switch of affective states with mild SD are still poorly understood. …