Cortical layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep.
Overview
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford Oxford United Kingdom
- Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, University of Oxford Oxford United Kingdom
- Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford Oxford United Kingdom
- University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern Bern Switzerland
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford Oxford United Kingdom
Abstract
One of the most distinctive features of the mammalian cerebral cortex is its laminar structure. Of all cortical layers, layer 6b (L6b) is by far the least studied, despite exhibiting direct sensitivity to orexin and having widespread connectivity, suggesting an important role in regulating cortical oscillations and brain state. We performed chronic electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings in mice in which a subset of L6b neurons was conditionally ‘silenced’, during undisturbed conditions, after sleep deprivation (SD), and after intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of orexin. While the total amount of waking and sleep or the response to SD were not altered, L6b-silenced mice showed a slowing of theta frequency (6–9 Hz) during wake and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and a marked reduction of total EEG power, especially in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. The infusion of orexin A increased wakefulness in both genotypes, but subsequent levels of EEG slow-wave activity during NREM sleep were lower in L6b-silenced animals in the occipital derivation. In summary, these results demonstrate a role for cortical L6b in state-dependent brain oscillations and in the response to orexinergic neurotransmission. Our findings provide new insights in functions of L6b neurons and could inform the understanding of abnormal regulation of brain states in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Code
The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.
The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.
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Data
Datasets cited
- figshare:31375441, at figshare; found in the references
- figshare:31830289, at figshare; found in the references
- figshare:31830520, at figshare; found in “Data availability”
- figshare:31830526, at figshare; found in “Data availability”
Data availability
Data can be accessed through these links: Analysis: https://
The following datasets were generated:
MeijerE 2026Meijer et al Layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep - EEG SPECTRAfigshare10.6084/
MeijerE 2026Meijer et al Layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep - HISTOLOGY DATAfigshare10.6084/
MeijerE 2026Meijer et al Layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep - VIGILANCE STATE ANNOTATIONfigshare10.608
MeijerE 2026Meijer et al Layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep - ANALYSIS FILESfigshare10.6084/
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.
Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 12 authors, 7 keywords, 11 MeSH terms, 10 funders, 104 references, 2 RRIDs.
Cite
This paper
Meijer, E. J., Mueller, M., Krone, L. B., Yamagata, T., Hoerder-Suabedissen, A., Wilcox, S., Alfonsa, H., Chakrabarty, A., Guidi, L., Oliver, P. L., Vyazovskiy, V. V., & Molnar, Z. (2026). Cortical layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep. eLife, 14, RP106992. https://
BibTeX
@article{meijer2026corti
author = {Meijer, Elise J and Mueller, Marissa and Krone, Lukas B and Yamagata, Tomoko and Hoerder-Suabedissen, Anna and Wilcox, Sian and Alfonsa, Hannah and Chakrabarty, Atreyi and Guidi, Luiz and Oliver, Peter L and Vyazovskiy, Vladyslav V and Molnar, Zoltan},
title = {{Cortical layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep}},
journal = {eLife},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
volume = {14},
pages = {RP106992},
publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd},
issn = {2050-084X},
doi = {10.7554/
url = {https://
pmid = {42706848},
pmcid = {PMC13553069}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Meijer, Elise J
AU - Mueller, Marissa
AU - Krone, Lukas B
AU - Yamagata, Tomoko
AU - Hoerder-Suabedissen, Anna
AU - Wilcox, Sian
AU - Alfonsa, Hannah
AU - Chakrabarty, Atreyi
AU - Guidi, Luiz
AU - Oliver, Peter L
AU - Vyazovskiy, Vladyslav V
AU - Molnar, Zoltan
TI - Cortical layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep
T2 - eLife
J2 - eLife
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 14
SP - RP106992
SN - 2050-084X
PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
DO - 10.7554/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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