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Dopamine and Wakefulness: Pharmacology, Genetics, and Circuitry

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Sleep-Wake Neurobiology and Pharmacology

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 253))

Abstract

Over the period of decades in the mid to late twentieth century, arousal-promoting functions were attributed to neuromodulators including serotonin, hypocretin, histamine, and noradrenaline. For some time, a relatively minor role in regulating sleep and wake states was ascribed to dopamine and the dopamine-producing cells of the ventral tegmental area, despite the fact that dopaminergic signaling is a major target, if not the primary target, for wake-promoting agents. In recent years, due to observations from human genetic studies, pharmacogenetic studies in animal models, and the increasingly sophisticated methods used to manipulate the nervous systems of experimental animals, it has become clear that dopaminergic signaling is central to the regulation of arousal. This chapter reviews this central role of dopaminergic signaling, and in particular its antagonistic interaction with adenosinergic signaling, in maintaining vigilance and in the response to wake-promoting therapeutics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, USA

    Jonathan P. Wisor

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Correspondence to Jonathan P. Wisor .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Human Sleep Psychopharmacology Laboratory, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Hans-Peter Landolt

  2. Surrey Sleep Research Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    Derk-Jan Dijk

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Wisor, J.P. (2018). Dopamine and Wakefulness: Pharmacology, Genetics, and Circuitry. In: Landolt, HP., Dijk, DJ. (eds) Sleep-Wake Neurobiology and Pharmacology . Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 253. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/164_2018_95

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