Children practice sleeping techniques at a kindergarten in Handan, Hebei province, in March 2016. (Photo: China Daily)

Chinese researchers have found that a type of neuron in the front of the brain plays an essential role in regulating sleep, according to a paper published on Friday on the website Science.

The discovery, researchers said, may pave the way to exploring novel treatments for sleep disorders.

Day-night rhythm and sleep homeostasis-the balance between the duration of sleep and wakefulness-are widely believed to be the two mechanisms that regulate sleep.

Researchers said the mainstream view is that the chemical adenosine participates in the regulation of sleep homeostasis.

It is also believed that the basal forebrain is where the molecule controls sleep regulation.

However, how brain activity regulates the release of adenosine remained mostly unclear, limiting exploration into the sleep-wake cycle.

After lab tests on mice, the researchers identified the activation of certain neurons as a primary reason for the increase of adenosine, which builds up sleep pressure and translates into longer hours of sleep.

It found that mice without these neurons exhibited much lower sleep pressure, allowing them to stay awake longer, said Xu Min, a leading scientist on the team and a researcher from the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"We also found that such mice needed a shorter duration of sleep to catch up on sleep deprivation, and showed a faster rate in clearing away sleep pressure," he said.

The researchers said they will follow up to see whether this neural circuit applies to other animals and hopefully humans, and thus provide insights into treating patients suffering sleep-related diseases.

The research was conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, the Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-inspired Technology, Peking University's School of Life Sciences, the Center for Life Sciences at Tsinghua and Peking Universities, and the IDG McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Peking University.