Sleep Deprivation alters the influence of biological sex on active-phase sleep behavior

Abstract

Poor sleep is a hazard of daily life that oftentimes cannot be avoided. Gender differences in daily sleep and wake patterns are widely reported; however, it remains unclear how biological sex, which is comprised of genetic and endocrine components, directly influences sleep regulatory processes. In the majority of model systems studied thus far, sex differences in daily sleep amount are predominant during the active (wake) phase of the sleep-wake cycle. The pervasiveness of sex differences in sleep amount throughout phylogeny suggests a strong underlying genetic component. The goal of the current study is to determine if sex differences in active-phase sleep amount are dependent on sex chromosomes in mice. Sleep was examined in the four-core genotype (FCG) mouse model, whose sex chromosome complement (XY, XX) is independent of sex phenotype (male or female). In this line, sex phenotype is determined by the presence or absence of the Sry gene, which is dissociated from the Y chromosome. Polysomnographic sleep recordings were obtained from gonadectomized (GDX) FCG mice to examine spontaneous sleep states and the ability to recover from sleep loss. We report that during the active-phase, the presence of the Sry gene accounts for most sex differences during spontaneous sleep; however, during recovery from sleep loss, sex differences in sleep amount are partially driven by sex chromosome complement. These results suggest that genetic factors on the sex chromosomes encode the homeostatic response to sleep loss.