# Chinese Academy of Sciences: switching off Chrm2 neurons during slow-wave sleep impairs memory in mice

- Published: 2026-11-15 03:55 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Neurotechnology
- Tags: slow-wave sleep and memory, hippocampal neurons, Chrm2 gene, memory consolidation, acetylcholine in sleep, Chinese Academy of Sciences neuroscience, Neuron study mice
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-2dfbeb0c8e4e1667383a581c_chinese_academy_of/

**In mice, suppressing one hippocampal neuron population during slow-wave sleep worsened memory while sleep parameters stayed normal. Whether the same applies to humans remains unknown.**

![Chinese Academy of Sciences: switching off Chrm2 neurons during slow-wave sleep impairs memory in mice](https://static.mk.ru/upload/entities/2026/11/14/17/articles/facebookPicture/f6/64/2a/64/f8086103a7b1054a0b24ebe4b79f4e3f.jpg)
*МК (наука)*

Researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience of the Chinese Academy of Sciences studied how a distinct population of neurons in the hippocampus, a region involved in learning and memory, works. According to МК (наука), in experiments on mice, switching off these cells impaired memory, while the usual sleep parameters remained unchanged [1]. The study was published in the journal Neuron.

## How the experiment was done

The team used genetically modified mice in which the activity of neurons linked to the Chrm2 gene could be monitored and altered. These cells are especially active during slow-wave sleep, when the brain processes and consolidates information. The animals were first given two identical objects to explore, then returned for 5 hours to cages where they mostly slept. After that, one object was moved [1].

Control mice noticed the change and paid more attention to the moved object because they remembered its earlier position. Mice with suppressed neurons barely reacted to the rearrangement. Sleep duration and overall electrical brain activity did not differ noticeably between the two groups [1].

## Slow-wave sleep and acetylcholine

Additional experiments showed that memory failures occurred only when the cells were switched off during slow-wave sleep. If the intervention fell on wakefulness or REM sleep, there was no such effect [1].

The researchers also determined why these neurons become active at night: during slow-wave sleep, the level of acetylcholine, which normally restrains their activity, drops in the brain. The identified cells regulate the frequency of brief bursts of electrical activity in the hippocampus, which play a notable role in consolidating memories [1].

Similar neurons exist in the human brain, but their significance for human memory has yet to be determined. So far the results have been obtained in mice; they indicate that outwardly normal sleep does not always mean that memory mechanisms are working fully.

## Sources

1. [МК (наука)](https://www.mk.ru/science/2026/11/14/uchyonye-vyyasnili-pochemu-vo-sne-ne-vsegda-zakreplyaetsya-novaya-informaciya.html)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-2dfbeb0c8e4e1667383a581c_chinese_academy_of/