Author: Sleep Review Staff

University of Basel researchers have discovered that clown loaches, a species of fish in South Asia, do not need orexin to stay awake. This molecule is thought to be necessary for the normal rhythm of wakefulness and sleep in vertebrates. People without orexin experience narcolepsy. Until recently, it was assumed that vertebrates shared similar mechanisms that regulate sleep behavior. That’s why researchers have been using fish for the past 20 years as a model organism to study sleep and its regulation. Now the team has made a surprising discovery in a South Asian species of fish: Clown loaches, also found…