Behavioral and Molecular Consequences of Chronic Sleep Restriction During Development in Fragile X Mice.

Sleep is critical for brain development and synaptic plasticity. In male wild-type mice, chronic sleep restriction during development results in long-lasting impairments in behavior including hypoactivity, decreased sociability, and increased repetitive behavior. Disordered sleep is characteristic of many neurodevelopmental disorders.

Chronic Sleep Restriction in Developing Male Mice Results in Long Lasting Behavior Impairments.

Sleep abnormalities are prevalent in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Moreover, the severity of ASD symptoms are correlated with the degree of disturbed sleep. We asked if disturbed sleep during brain development itself could lead to ASD-like symptoms, particularly behavioral manifestations.

Chronic sleep restriction during development can lead to long-lasting behavioral effects.

Sleep abnormalities are highly correlated with neurodevelopmental disorders, and the severity of behavioral abnormalities correlates with the presence of sleep abnormalities. Given the importance of sleep in developmental plasticity, we sought to determine the effects of chronic sleep-restriction during development on subsequent adult behavior. We sleep-restricted developing wild-type mice from P5-P42 for 3h per day by means of gentle handling (n=30) and compared behavioral outputs to controls that were handled 10 min daily (n=33).