encyclo2007

Abstract
Sleep and sleep States: Thalamic regulation.
Alain Destexhe and Terrence J. Sejnowski

In: Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, Edited by Squire LR, Academic Press, Oxford. Vol. 8, pp. 973-976 (2009).

Copy of the full paper (PDF)
Abstract
During slow-wave sleep, brain activity is dominated by different types of oscillations, such as sleep spindles, delta oscillations and slower oscillations. The thalamus, together with the cortex, participates in generating and sustaining these oscillations. This article reviews the role of the thalamus in generating and controlling the sleep spindles, one of the key oscillations of slow-wave sleep.