爬行动物的屏状核及其在慢波睡眠中的作用，这一成果由德国马克斯·普朗克学会脑科学研究所Gilles Laurent研究组取得。相关论文2020年2月12日在线发表在国际学术期刊《自然》上。

通过单细胞转录组学和连接病毒示踪识技术，研究人员发现在爬行动物（澳大利亚胡子龙：鬃狮蜥）中也存在屏状核的同源物。在鬃狮蜥慢波睡眠期间，尖波主要的产生部位是屏状核。尖波以及叠加的高频波几乎传播到整个相邻的脑室脊背部（DVR）。屏状核的单侧或双侧病变分别以单边或双边的方式抑制慢波睡眠过程中尖波的产生，但不影响该物种睡眠特征和快速交替睡眠的频率。因此，屏状核不参与睡眠节律本身的产生。轨迹示踪显示，爬虫类屏状核广泛地投射到包括皮层在内的各种前脑区域，并且它从中脑和后脑区域（已知的哺乳动物中参与其唤醒-睡眠调控的脑区）中接收到越来越多的信息输入。例如，周期性地调节屏状核中5-羟色胺的浓度，会导致尖波在这个以及附近的DVR中产生相应的调整。使用转录组学方法，研究人员还发现黄肚红耳龟（蜥蜴的一个遥远的爬行动物亲属）中也存在屏状核。因此，屏状核是一种古老的结构，其可能早已存在于同祖先的脊椎爬行动物和哺乳动物的大脑中。由于屏状核从中脑和后脑获得升序输入、其对前脑广泛的投射以及在慢波睡眠中产生尖波的功能，因此屏状核可能在控制脑部状态中起重要作用。

研究人员表示，由于哺乳动物的屏状核与其它前脑结构之间存在广泛的联系；因此，研究人员推测它可以调控从决策到意识的各种功能。

附：英文原文

Title: A claustrum in reptiles and its role in slow-wave sleep

Author: Hiroaki Norimoto, Lorenz A. Fenk, Hsing-Hsi Li, Maria Antonietta Tosches, Tatiana Gallego-Flores, David Hain, Sam Reiter, Riho Kobayashi, Angeles Macias, Anja Arends, Michaela Klinkmann, Gilles Laurent

Issue&Volume: 2020-02-12

Abstract: The mammalian claustrum, owing to its widespread connectivity with other forebrain structures, has been hypothesized to mediate functions that range from decision-making to consciousness1. Here we report that a homologue of the claustrum, identified by single-cell transcriptomics and viral tracing of connectivity, also exists in a reptile—the Australian bearded dragon Pogona vitticeps. In Pogona, the claustrum underlies the generation of sharp waves during slow-wave sleep. The sharp waves, together with superimposed high-frequency ripples2, propagate to the entire neighbouring pallial dorsal ventricular ridge (DVR). Unilateral or bilateral lesions of the claustrum suppress the production of sharp-wave ripples during slow-wave sleep in a unilateral or bilateral manner, respectively, but do not affect the regular and rapidly alternating sleep rhythm that is characteristic of sleep in this species3. The claustrum is thus not involved in the generation of the sleep rhythm itself. Tract tracing revealed that the reptilian claustrum projects widely to a variety of forebrain areas, including the cortex, and that it receives converging inputs from, among others, areas of the mid- and hindbrain that are known to be involved in wake–sleep control in mammals4,5,6. Periodically modulating the concentration of serotonin in the claustrum, for example, caused a matching modulation of sharp-wave production there and in the neighbouring DVR. Using transcriptomic approaches, we also identified a claustrum in the turtle Trachemys scripta, a distant reptilian relative of lizards. The claustrum is therefore an ancient structure that was probably already present in the brain of the common vertebrate ancestor of reptiles and mammals. It may have an important role in the control of brain states owing to the ascending input it receives from the mid- and hindbrain, its widespread projections to the forebrain and its role in sharp-wave generation during slow-wave sleep.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-1993-6

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1993-6