Altered sleep and affect in the neurotensin receptor 1 knockout mouse.

Study Objective: Sleep and mood disorders have long been understood to have strong genetic components, and there is considerable comorbidity of sleep abnormalities and mood disorders, suggesting the involvement of common genetic pathways. Here, we examine a candidate gene implicated in the regulation of both sleep and affective behavior using a knockout mouse model.

Design: Previously, we identified a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for REM sleep amount, REM sleep bout number, and wake amount in a genetically segregating population of mice.