New insight into the way neurons work together to ease the transition between sleep and wakefulness could have significant implications for our body clocks.
Researchers looked at how so-called “pacemaker clock” neurons interact with each other, specifically the relationship between master pacemaker neurons, which control the overall pace of the circadian system, and non-master pacemaker neurons, whose role in circadian rhythms has been less clear.
The researchers concluded that the balance between signalling of these two groups of clock neurons helps to set the precise time of the transition between sleep and wakefulness.
Read more at New York University