Summary

The words “regulation” and “control” have different meanings. A rich literature exists on the control mechanisms of sleep—the genomic, molecular, cellular, and circuit processes responsible for arousal state changes and characteristics. The regulation of sleep refers to functions and homeostatic maintenance of those functions. Much less is known about sleep regulation than sleep control, largely because functions of sleep are still unknown. Regulation requires information about the regulated variable that can be used as feedback information to achieve optimal levels. The circadian timing of sleep is regulated, and the feedback information is entraining stimuli such as the light–dark cycle. Sleep itself is homeostatically regulated, as evidenced by sleep deprivation experiments. Eletroenceophalography (EEG) slow-wave activity (SWA) is regulated, and it appears that adenosine is the major source of feedback information, and that fact indicates an energetic function for sleep. The last aspect of sleep regulation discussed in this short article is the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep cycling. Evidence is discussed that supports the argument that NREM sleep is in a homeostatic relationship with wake, and REM sleep is in a homeostatic relationship with NREM sleep.