Adult neurogenesis and the unfolded protein response; new cellular and molecular avenues in sleep research

Two recent publications in this journal highlight the impact of new developments for our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the consequences of sleep disturbance and sleep loss. Meerlo et al. discuss effects of sleep disturbance at the cellular level, focusing mainly on adult neurogenesis and stress hormones. Naidoo implicates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the molecular changes occurring in neurons during sleep loss and in sleep disorders. Both topics represent rapidly developing research fields that form important new entities on their own, that, as will be discussed below, also bear considerable relevance for sleep research.