During sleep, most animal species enter a state of reduced consciousness characterized by a marked sensory disconnect. Yet some processing of the external world must remain intact, given that a sleeping animal can be awoken by intense stimuli (for example, a loud noise or a bright light) or by soft but qualitatively salient stimuli (for example, the sound of a baby cooing or hearing one’s own name^1,2,3). How does a sleeping brain retain the ability to process the quality of sensory information? Here we present a paradigm to study the functional underpinnings of sensory discrimination during sleep in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that sleeping vinegar flies, like humans, discern the quality of sensory stimuli and are more likely to wake up in response to salient stimuli. We also show that the salience of a stimulus during sleep can be modulated by internal states. We offer a prototypical blueprint detailing a circuit involved in this process and its modulation as evidence that the system can be used to explore the cellular underpinnings of how a sleeping brain experiences the world.

在睡眠期间，大多数动物物种进入意识降低的状态，其特征是明显的感觉脱节。然而，对外部世界的某些处理必须保持完整，因为睡觉的动物可以被强烈的刺激（例如，大声的噪音或明亮的灯光）或柔和但质量显着的刺激（例如，婴儿的声音）唤醒。咕咕叫或听到自己的名字^1,2,3 )。沉睡的大脑如何保留处理感觉信息质量的能力？在这里，我们提出了一个范式来研究黑腹果蝇睡眠期间感觉辨别的功能基础. 我们表明，睡觉的醋蝇和人类一样，能够辨别感官刺激的质量，并且更有可能对突出的刺激做出反应。我们还表明，睡眠期间刺激的显着性可以通过内部状态进行调节。我们提供了一个原型蓝图，详细说明了参与该过程的电路及其调制，作为该系统可用于探索睡眠大脑如何体验世界的细胞基础的证据。