Transcript Document

Center for Translational Neuroscience
Distinguished Speaker Series
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II Bldg., 12 noon
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Sleep, Anesthesia, & Mental Health:
Mechanistic Insights from
Neuropharmacological and Neurochemical
Studies
Helen A. Baghdoyan, Ph.D.
Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology
University of Michigan
School of Medicine
Ann Arbor, MI
The same neural systems that evolved to generate states of sleep and
wakefulness are preferentially involved in generating anesthetic
states. Similarly, sleep/wake states and mental states are generated
by overlapping brain regions and neurotransmitters. All psychiatric
disorders are characterized by disrupted sleep, and sleep loss
exacerbates psychiatric symptoms. Use of in vivo microdialysis for
drug delivery to specific brain regions of behaving animals while
collecting endogenous neurotransmitters is providing unique insights
into the mechanisms by which states of arousal are generated. This
lecture will present an overview of recent advances in understanding
neurotransmitter interactions in brain regions that regulate arousal
states. Studies of GABA, hypocretin/orexin, acetylcholine, and
adenosine in the pontine reticular formation and prefrontal cortex
will be highlighted. Identifying neurotransmitter interactions that
regulate behavioral states is essential for understanding the
neurochemical substrates of mental health.