Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have induced sleep-like brain activity in awake mice, recalibrating neural connections typically seen only during sleep. This intervention offset the negative effects of sleep deprivation in memory-related tasks and revealed aspects of sleep critical to its restorative function, according to a study published by NIH researchers on June 8, 2026.
The team used light-pulsing implants and genetic modifications to create rhythmic neural activity in one hemisphere of the mice’s brains for 30-minute intervals. This pattern mimicked the slow-wave activity characteristic of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, when the brain evaluates and prunes neural connections essential for long-term memory storage.
After stimulation, targeted brain regions showed reduced slow-wave activity during subsequent sleep, suggesting those areas required less recovery. Behavioral tests revealed that sleep-deprived mice receiving stimulation in motor and sensory cortical regions performed on tactile memory tasks as well as well-rested mice. In contrast, sleep-deprived mice without stimulation showed significantly poorer performance.
The researchers noted that the benefits did not result from a general reduction in neuronal firing but depended on the specific alternating pattern of neural activity induced. These findings provide new insights into how sleep resets the brain and suggest possible methods to mitigate cognitive impairments from sleep deprivation.
Corresponding author Chiara Cirelli emphasized that this approach induces a sleep-like state in localized brain areas while maintaining overall wakefulness and vigilance, comparing it to the half-brain sleep observed in dolphins.