Yawning coupled with penile erection is a conserved neurobehavioral syndrome mediated by the paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH). However, the distinct roles of oxytocin and its co-transmitters remain unresolved. Using chemogenetics, we showed that activation of PVH oxytocin neurons was sufficient to elicit both responses, whereas silencing these neurons abolished them. Viral tracing revealed that these neurons project collater...

Exposure to chronic hypoxia is considered to be a risk factor for deficits in brain function in adults, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Since active myelinogenesis persists in the adult central nervous system, here we aimed to investigate the impact of chronic hypoxia on myelination and the related functional consequences in adult mice. Using a transgenic approach to label newly-generated myelin sheaths (...

The lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) plays a pivotal role in regulating consciousness transition, in which orexinergic neurons, GABAergic neurons, and melanin-concentrating hormone neurons are involved. Glutamatergic neurons have a large population in the LHA, but their anesthesia-related effect has not been explored. Here, we found that genetic ablation of LHA glutamatergic neurons shortened the induction time and prolonged th...

General anesthesia severely affects the metabolites in the brain. Glycogen, principally stored in astrocytes and providing the short-term delivery of substrates to neurons, has been implicated as an affected molecule. However, whether glycogen plays a pivotal role in modulating anesthesia–arousal remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that isoflurane-anesthetized mice exhibited dynamic changes in the glycogen levels in various...