Bad sleep causes severe health issues and affects our ability to concentrate, memorize, and cope with challenging situations. Individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and intellectual disability, frequently suffer from sleep problems. However, little is known about their underlying mechanisms. In Science Advances, a Dutch-American research team, coordinated by Radboudumc, now describes how these problems can arise. Mimicking two genetic causes of autism in fruit flies, they uncovered that flies show the same sleep problems as the patients, and that the disturbed sleep is caused by high levels of serotonin—also frequently observed in autism. Moreover, they found that the origin of high serotonin and sleep problems resides on the glial cells of the blood-brain barrier. This completely new information sheds light on sleep problems in humans and even suggests a possible treatment.
