Chinese researchers have found that a type of neuron lying in the basal forebrain area plays an essential role in regulating the accumulation of sleep pressure.

A paper about the research was published on the website of Science on Friday.

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

The research was jointly conducted by the CAS' 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.