Overview

• Researchers traced projections from corticotropin-releasing hormone–expressing PVN neurons to the lateral hypothalamus, demonstrating a direct stress-responsive pathway.
• Optogenetic stimulation of PVN CRH neurons in male mice mimicked stress effects by reducing sleep duration and fragmenting sleep architecture.
• Inhibiting the same PVN neurons in stressed mice alleviated memory deficits and produced modest gains in sleep quality.
• The lateral hypothalamus houses orexin/hypocretin cells that appear to mediate the pathway’s influence on arousal and cognitive processes.
• Findings suggest that targeting the PVN-LH circuit could yield novel treatments for stress-related disorders, though future work must assess sex differences.