New research: One sleepless night can quickly reverse depression for several days

A new study has found that acute sleep deprivation leads to an increase in dopamine release and brain rewiring.

Most individuals who have experienced staying up all night are familiar with the strange sensation of fatigue and hyperactivity.  Despite the physical exhaustion, the brain feels thrilled, crazy, almost dizzy.

Now, neurobiologists at Northwestern University are the first to discover what produces this drunken effect.  In a new study, researchers induced mild and severe sleep deprivation in mice and then examined their behaviors and brain activity.  Not only is dopamine release increased during a period of acute sleep loss, but synaptic plasticity is also enhanced, literally rewiring the brain to maintain an energized mood for the next few days.

These new findings could help researchers better understand how moods naturally shift.  It could also lead to a more complete understanding of how fast-acting antidepressants (such as ketamine) work and help researchers identify previously unknown targets for new antidepressant drugs.

The research was recently published in the journal Neuron.  Northwestern University Postdoctoral Fellow Mingzheng Wu is the first author of this paper, and Professor Yevgenia Kozorovetsky is the corresponding author.