Sleep occurs in a wide range of animal species as a vital process for the maintenance of homeostasis, metabolic restoration, physiological regulation, and adaptive cognitive functions in the central nervous system. Long-term perturbations induced by the lack of sleep are mostly mediated by changes at the level of transcription and translation. This chapter reviews studies in humans, rodents, and flies to address the various ways by which sleep deprivation affects gene expression in the nervous system, with a focus on genes related to neuronal plasticity, brain function, and cognition. However, the effects of sleep deprivation on gene expression and the functional consequences of sleep loss are clearly not restricted to the cognitive domain but may include increased inflammation, expression of stress-related genes, general impairment of protein translation, metabolic imbalance, and thermal deregulation.

Background Organoid cultivation in suspension culture requires agitation at low shear stress to allow for nutrient diffusion, which preserves tissue structure. Multiplex systems for organoid cultivation have been proposed, but whether they meet similar shear stress parameters as the regularly used spinner flask and its correlation with the successful generation of brain organoids has not been determined. Results Here we used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate two multiplex culture conditions: steering plates on an orbital shaker and the use of a previously described bioreactor. The bioreactor had low speed and high shear stress regions that may affect cell aggregate growth, depending on volume, whereas the computed variables of the steering plates were closer to those of the spinning flask. Conclusion Our protocol improves the initial steps of the standard brain organoid formation, and the produced organoids displayed regionalized brain structures, including retinal pigmented cells. Overall, we conclude that suspension culture on orbital steering plates is a cost-effective practical alternative to previously described platforms for the cultivation of brain organoids for research and multiplex testing. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12861-019-0183-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a potent classical psychedelic known to induce changes in locomotion, behaviour, and sleep in rodents. However, there is limited knowledge regarding its acute neurophysiological effects. Local field potentials (LFPs) are commonly used as a proxy for neural activity, but previous studies investigating psychedelics have been hindered by confounding effects of behavioural changes and anaesthesia, which alter these signals. To address this gap, we investigated acute LFP changes in the hippocampus (HP) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of freely behaving rats, following 5-MeO-DMT administration. 5-MeO-DMT led to an increase of delta power and a decrease of theta power in the HP LFPs, which could not be accounted for by changes in locomotion. Furthermore, we observed a dose-dependent reduction in slow (20-50 Hz) and mid (50-100Hz) gamma power, as well as in theta phase modulation, even after controlling for the effects of speed and theta power. State map analysis of the spectral profile of awake behaviour induced by 5-MeO-DMT revealed similarities to electrophysiological states observed during slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. Our findings suggest that the psychoactive effects of classical psychedelics are associated with the integration of waking behaviours with sleep-like spectral patterns in LFPs.