Modelling shiftwork and sleep fragmentation in mice: behavioural phenotypes and implications for hippocampal neurogenesis
- 1Simon Fraser University
Abstract
Sleep disturbances compromise cognition, and overall physical and mental health; however, animal models of these effects remain limited, and typically impose more extreme disturbances than those experienced by humans. Here, we use behavioural interventions in mice to model two common types of sleep disruption: (1) sleep displacement associated with shiftwork and (2) sleep fragmentation associated with aging and disease. C57BL6/J mice were subjected to either a sleep deprivation protocol (n = 8, females = 4) or a fragmentation protocol (n = 8, females = 4), in which they were completely deprived of sleep or awoken every 2 min respectively, for 12 hours during their typical rest phase (lights-on) across 7 consecutive days. Age-matched control mice (n = 14, females = 7) remained undisturbed in their home cages. Activity during the 12-hour active phase was recorded via infrared motion sensors. After protocol completion, mice were injected with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU, 200mg/kg) 2 hours prior to brain and blood collection; hippocampal neurogenesis and plasma corticosterone were then assessed. Results show that the sleep deprivation and fragmentation protocols had different, dynamic effects on behaviour; sleep deprivation was associated with an accumulating sleep need, operationalized as progressively reduced locomotor activity across the week, whereas fragmentation produced only an acute reduction of locomotor activity. Cell proliferation rates and corticosterone did not differ from controls. These protocols provide a foundation for future research into the mechanistic links between shiftwork and sleep fragmentation on health and cognition.
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BibTeX
@misc{gibson2026modelling,
title = {{Modelling shiftwork and sleep fragmentation in mice: behavioural phenotypes and implications for hippocampal neurogenesis}},
author = {R. M. Gibson and T. Yildirim and K. Simon and J. Yue and S. Tok and R. Mistlberger and B. A. Kent},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.26.754534},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.26.754534v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Modelling shiftwork and sleep fragmentation in mice: behavioural phenotypes and implications for hippocampal neurogenesis
AU - R. M. Gibson
AU - T. Yildirim
AU - K. Simon
AU - J. Yue
AU - S. Tok
AU - R. Mistlberger
AU - B. A. Kent
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/26
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.26.754534
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.26.754534v1
AB - Sleep disturbances compromise cognition, and overall physical and mental health; however, animal models of these effects remain limited, and typically impose more extreme disturbances than those experienced by humans. Here, we use behavioural interventions in mice to model two common types of sleep disruption: (1) sleep displacement associated with shiftwork and (2) sleep fragmentation associated with aging and disease. C57BL6/J mice were subjected to either a sleep deprivation protocol (n = 8, females = 4) or a fragmentation protocol (n = 8, females = 4), in which they were completely deprived of sleep or awoken every 2 min respectively, for 12 hours during their typical rest phase (lights-on) across 7 consecutive days. Age-matched control mice (n = 14, females = 7) remained undisturbed in their home cages. Activity during the 12-hour active phase was recorded via infrared motion sensors. After protocol completion, mice were injected with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU, 200mg/kg) 2 hours prior to brain and blood collection; hippocampal neurogenesis and plasma corticosterone were then assessed. Results show that the sleep deprivation and fragmentation protocols had different, dynamic effects on behaviour; sleep deprivation was associated with an accumulating sleep need, operationalized as progressively reduced locomotor activity across the week, whereas fragmentation produced only an acute reduction of locomotor activity. Cell proliferation rates and corticosterone did not differ from controls. These protocols provide a foundation for future research into the mechanistic links between shiftwork and sleep fragmentation on health and cognition.
ER -