Sleep, by Julia Gomez BILD 12 Neurobiology of Behavior Midterm Project Fall 2015

This is a presentation on adenosine and how it affects sleeping patterns. Adenosine is produced in the metabolism of Adenosine triphosphate. It is accumulated throughout the day in the activities we do. The levels of adenosine in the brain are shown to decrease during sleep because it is used by adenosine receptors in the brain to cause decreased heart rate and inhibit excitation. It is shown that coffee molecules are able to bind to adenosine receptors which slows down the metabolism of adenosine, causing our brains to stay awake longer.