ABSTRACT

Over the past two decades, evidence has been gradually accumulating for genetic involvement in both normal sleep as well as a number of sleep disorders. In addition, determination of whether differential gene expression occurs in brain across arousal states has been the subject of increasing interest in the sleep field. The pace of this research has accelerated in the 1990s stimulated in part by the influence of the Human Genome Project, the general accessibility of molecular and genetic techniques, discoveries of specific mutations that affect the circadian system (1,2), and identification of specific genes that are induced in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in association with the phase-shifting response (3-8). In the present chapter, we will review evidence for genetic influences on normal sleep in both humans and animal models, examine studies suggesting roles of genetic involvement in various sleep disorders, present results of recent studies that characterize gene expression in brain across arousal states, and conclude with a discussion of profitable directions for future research in this rapidly emerging field.