Siegel Lab,
UCLA Department of Psychiatry,
Neurobiology Research 151A3,
VA GLAHS, North Hills
California 91343, U.S.A.

  University of California Los Angeles     Veterans Affairs LA
Center for Sleep Research - you do not have Flash installed to view the slideshow


Our goal is to better understand the evolution, function and disorders of sleep.

A major focus of the laboratory is on the peptide hypocretin (orexin), whose loss is responsible for narcolepsy. Our work on the control of sleep and motor activity has relevance to an understanding of sleep apnea, REM sleep behavior disorder, restless legs syndrome and nocturnal bruxism.

Recent Publications

Director: 
Jerome Siegel

Narcolepsy

Interactions of the histamine and hypocretin systems in CNS disorders. Nature Reviews Neurology 2015
Cataplexy-clinical aspects, pathophysiology and management strategy. Nature Reviews Neurology 2014
Gender differences between hypocretin/orexin knockout and wild type mice: age, body weight, body composition, metabolic markers, leptin and insulin resistance. Journal of neurochemistry 2014
Greatly increased numbers of histamine cells in human narcolepsy with cataplexy. Annals of Neurology 2013
Coexistence of narcolepsy and Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiology of Aging 2011
Highly specific role of hypocretin (orexin) neurons: Differential activation as a function of diurnal phase, operant reinforcement versus operant avoidance and light level. Journal of Neuroscience 2011
Role of the hypocretin (orexin) receptor 2 (Hcrt-r2) in the regulation of hypocretin level and cataplexy. Journal of Neuroscience 2011
Localized loss of hypocretin (orexin) cells in narcolepsy without cataplexy Sleep 2009
A consensus definition of cataplexy in mouse models of narcolepsy Sleep 2008
Hypocretin (orexin) cell loss in Parkinson’s disease Brain 2007
Systemic and nasal delivery of orexin-A (hypocretin-1) reduces the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance in nonhuman primates Journal of Neuroscience 2007
Narcolepsy and the hypocretin system—where motion meets emotion Nature Clinical Practice Neurology 2006
Narp immunostaining of human hypocretin (orexin) neurons: loss in narcolepsy Neurology 2005
Pattern of hypocretin (orexin) soma and axon loss, and gliosis, in human narcolepsy Brain Pathology 2003
Human narcolepsy is linked to reduced number, size and synaptic bouton density In hypocretin-2 labeled neurons. Society for Neuroscience 2000
Narcolepsy Scientific American 2000
Recent developments in narcolepsy research, an explanation for patients and the general public Narcolepsy Network Newsletter 2000
Reduced number of hypocretin neurons in human narcolepsy Neuron 2000

Sleep mechanisms

Control of sleep in mammals (poster) Nature Neuroscience Reviews 2015
Monoamine release during unihemispheric sleep and unihemispheric waking in the fur seal. Sleep 2015
Human hypocretin and melanin-concentrating hormone levels are linked to emotion and social interaction Nature Communications 2013
REM sleep Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine 2011
REM sleep: A biological and psychological paradox. Sleep Medicine Reviews 2011
Sleep deprivation under sustained hypoxia protects against oxidative stress. Free Radical Biology & Medicine 2011
Behavioral response and transmitter release during atonia elicited by medial medullary stimulation. Journal of Neurophysiology 2010
Illuminating the locus coeruleus: control of posture and arousal Nature Neuroscience 2010
Short-term total sleep deprivation in the rat increases antioxidant responses in multiple brain regions without impairing spontaneous alternation behavior. Behavioural Brain Research 2010
Neurobiology of sleep Seminars in Neurology 2009
An endogenous glutamatergic drive onto somatic motoneurons contributes to the stereotypical pattern of muscle tone across the sleep–wake cycle Journal of Neuroscience 2008
Rapid changes in glutamate levels in the posterior hypothalamus across sleep-wake states in freely behaving rats American Journal of Physiology 2008
Cortical acetylcholine release is lateralized during asymmetrical slow-wave sleep in northern fur seals Journal of Neuroscience 2007
The stuff dreams are made of: anatomical substrates of REM sleep Nature Neuroscience 2006
Behavioral correlates of activity in identified hypocretin/orexin neurons Neuron 2005
Cataplexy-active neurons in the hypothalamus: Implications for the role of histamine in sleep and waking behavior Neuron 2004
Hypocretin (orexin): Role in normal behavior and neuropathology Annual Review of Psychology 2004
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