Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30614089›Full record

ReviewThe European journal of neuroscience2020

Sleep and synaptic down-selection.

Giulio Tononi, Chiara Cirelli

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in The European journal of neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
92citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

92 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Modulation of early non-rapid eye movement slow wave activity by ketamine in treatment-resistant depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Trial
  2. Does sleep matter for recovery after stroke? Functional severity shapes the association between sleep and functional outcome during inpatient stroke rehabilitation.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Active zone plasticity couples sleep need to presynaptic hypophosphorylation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. The futuristic manifolds of REM sleep.Journal of sleep research · 2025
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Giulio TononiDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.
Chiara CirelliDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.ORCID 0000-0003-2563-677X

Funding

Electron Microscopy Core CP01NS083514 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI CIRELLI, CHIARA · 2014 to 2018
$7.7M
NIH Director's Pioneer Award (RMI)DP1OD000579 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI TONONI, GIULIO · 2005 to 2009
$3.6M
The cost of plasticity: from cells to systemsR01MH099231 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI CIRELLI, CHIARA, TONONI, GIULIO · 2013 to 2017
$3.3M
Synapses and Sleep in Neurodevelopment: A Crucial Interaction at a Critical TimeR01MH091326 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI CIRELLI, CHIARA, TONONI, GIULIO · 2010 to 2014
$3.2M
Characterization of Sleep Mutants of DrososphilaR01GM075315 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI CIRELLI, CHIARA · 2005 to 2009
$1.2M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM075315NIH HHS DP1 OD000579NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH091326NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH099231NINDS NIH HHS P01 NS083514
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The synaptic homeostasis hypothesis (SHY) proposes that sleep is an essential process needed by the brain to maintain the total amount of synaptic strength under control. SHY predicts that by the end of a waking day the synaptic connections of many neural circuits undergo a net increase in synaptic strength due to ongoing learning, which is mainly mediated by synaptic potentiation. Stronger synapses require more energy and supplies and are prone to saturation, creating the need for synaptic renormalization. Such renormalization should mainly occur during sleep, when the brain is disconnected from the environment and neural circuits can be broadly reactivated off-line to undergo a systematic but specific synaptic down-selection. In short, according to SHY sleep is the price to pay for waking plasticity, to avoid runaway potentiation, decreased signal-to-noise ratio, and impaired learning due to saturation. In this review, we briefly discuss the rationale of the hypothesis and recent supportive ultrastructural evidence obtained in our laboratory. We then examine recent studies by other groups showing the causal role of cortical slow waves and hippocampal sharp waves/ripples in sleep-dependent down-selection of neural activity and synaptic strength. Finally, we discuss some of the molecular mechanisms that could mediate synaptic weakening during sleep.

Indexed as

Neuronal PlasticitySleepBrainLearningSynapseshomeostasisserial electron microscopysleepsynapsesynaptic potentiation

Identifiers

PMID30614089
PMCPMC6612535

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.