Astrocytic Ca²⁺ signaling has been intensively studied in health and disease but has not been quantified during natural sleep. Here, we employ an activity-based algorithm to assess astrocytic Ca²⁺ signals in the neocortex of awake and naturally sleeping mice while monitoring neuronal Ca²⁺ activity, brain rhythms and behavior. We show that astrocytic Ca²⁺ signals exhibit distinct features across the sleep-wake cycle and are reduced during sleep compared to wakefulness. Moreover, an increase in astrocytic Ca²⁺ signaling precedes transitions from slow wave sleep to wakefulness, with a peak upon awakening exceeding the levels during whisking and locomotion. Finally, genetic ablation of an important astrocytic Ca²⁺ signaling pathway impairs slow wave sleep and results in an increased number of microarousals, abnormal brain rhythms, and an increased frequency of slow wave sleep state transitions and sleep spindles. Our findings demonstrate an essential role for astrocytic Ca²⁺ signaling in regulating slow wave sleep.

星形细胞 Ca ²⁺信号已在健康和疾病中进行了深入研究，但尚未在自然睡眠期间进行量化。在这里，我们采用基于活动的算法来评估清醒和自然睡眠小鼠新皮质中的星形细胞 Ca ^{2+信号，同时监测神经元 Ca 2+}活动、大脑节律和行为。我们表明，星形细胞 Ca ²⁺信号在整个睡眠-觉醒周期中表现出明显的特征，并且与清醒相比，在睡眠期间会减少。此外，星形胶质细胞 Ca ²⁺信号的增加先于从慢波睡眠到清醒的转变，觉醒时的峰值超过了搅拌和运动期间的水平。最后，对一个重要的星形胶质细胞 Ca 进行基因消融²⁺信号通路损害慢波睡眠，导致微觉醒次数增加、大脑节律异常以及慢波睡眠状态转换和睡眠纺锤波频率增加。^{我们的研究结果证明了星形细胞 Ca 2+}信号在调节慢波睡眠中的重要作用。