Exploring phylogeny to find the function of sleep
Abstract
During sleep, animals do not eat, reproduce or forage. Sleeping animals are vulnerable to predation. Yet, the persistence of sleep despite evolutionary pressures, and the deleterious effects of sleep deprivation, indicate that sleep serves a function or functions that cannot easily be bypassed. Recent research demonstrates sleep to be phylogenetically far more pervasive than previously appreciated; it is possible that the very first animals slept. Here, we give an overview of sleep across various species, with the aim of determining its original purpose. Sleep exists in animals without cephalized nervous systems and can be influenced by non-neuronal signals, including those associated with metabolic rhythms. Together, these observations support the notion that sleep serves metabolic functions in neural and non-neural tissues.
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Sleep is phylogenetically widespread.
“In parallel to, or possibly related to, volatile anesthetic action on all branches of life is the growing identification of sleep’s phylogenetic ubiquity [19, 20].”
From The Biology of General Anesthesia from Paramecium to Primate (2019) · cites this paper as [19]
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References 161 · Cited by 259
- Authors
- Anafi, R. C., Kayser, M. S., & Raizen, D. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Raizen, David M.
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience
- Published
- 2018-12-20
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 109-116
- ISSN
- 1471-003X (ISSN-L)
- 1471-0048
- OpenAlex
- W2904388567
- Cited by
- 259
- References
- 161
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 8
- FWCI
- 1.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature reviews. Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (K08NS090461)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Keywords
- sleep function, sleep evolution, cephalopods, sleep and metabolism, metabolic rhythms, sleep deprivation, predation vulnerability
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biological Evolution, Humans, Phylogeny, Sleep, Sleep Stages, Species Specificity
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