身為一個熱愛美食、喜歡在城市裡挖掘驚喜的人，臺中公益路一直是我最常出沒的地方之一。這條路可說是「臺中人的美食戰場」，從精緻西餐到創意火鍋，從日式丼飯到義式早午餐，每走幾步，就會有完全不同的特色料理餐廳。

這次我特別花了一整個月，實際造訪了公益路上十間口碑不錯的餐廳。有的是網友熱推的打卡名店，也有隱藏在巷弄裡的小驚喜。我以環境氛圍、口味表現、價格CP值與再訪意願為基準，整理出這篇實測評比。希望能幫正在猶豫去哪裡吃飯的你，找到那一間「吃完會想再來」的餐廳。

評比標準與整理方向

這次我走訪的10家餐廳橫跨不同料理類型，從高質感牛排館到巷弄系早午餐，每一間都有自己獨特的風格。為了讓整體比較更客觀，我依照以下四大面向進行評比，並搭配實際用餐體驗來打分。

整體而言，我希望這份評比不只是「哪家好吃」，而是幫你在不同情境下（約會、家庭聚餐、朋友小聚、商業午餐）都能快速找到合適的選擇。畢竟，美食不只是味覺的滿足，更是一段段與朋友共享的生活記憶。

10間臺中公益路餐廳評比懶人包

公益路向來是臺中人聚餐的首選地段，從火鍋、燒肉到中式料理與早午餐，每走幾步就有驚喜。以下是我實際造訪過的10間代表性餐廳清單，橫跨平價、創意、高級各路風格。

一頭牛日式燒肉｜炭香濃郁的和牛饗宴，約會聚餐首選

走在公益路上，很難不被 一頭牛日式燒肉 的木質外觀吸引。低調卻不失質感的門面，搭配昏黃燈光與暖色調的內裝，讓人一進門就感受到濃濃的日式職人氛圍。店內空間不大，但桌距規劃得宜，每桌皆設有獨立排煙設備，烤肉時完全不怕滿身油煙味。

餐點特色

一頭牛的靈魂，絕對是他們招牌的「三國和牛拼盤」。
嚴選的和牛部位，共八個部位、十樣餐點，讓人能從牛頭一路品嘗到牛尾。
油花分布均勻、切片厚薄恰好，經過炭火烤炙後香氣四溢，焦香與油脂在口中交融，入口即化的滑順感令人難忘。
值得一提的是，一頭牛的菜單設計十分彈性
想要一次體驗完整套餐也可以，偏好客製口味則能自由單點組合，不受套餐限制，想吃什麼就點什麼。
而且每桌都能選擇「自行燒烤」或「專人代烤」服務，烤肉管家的火侯掌握與節奏讓整體體驗更輕鬆愉快。
除了主角和牛，旬味野炊飯 與 主廚冰淇淋 也是隱藏版亮點，前者粒粒分明、香氣撲鼻；後者以香草與焙茶為基底，隨季節更換口味，完美收尾。整體服務親切熱情，特別是壽星還能享有 生日畫盤驚喜，讓慶祝時刻更添儀式感。

用餐體驗

整體節奏掌握得非常好。店員會在你剛想烤下一片肉時貼心遞上夾子、幫忙換烤網，讓人完全不用分心。整場用餐過程就像一場表演，從視覺、嗅覺到味覺都被滿足。
如果是第一次約會或慶祝特別節日，這裡的氛圍既不尷尬又不吵鬧，是營造氣氛的理想選擇。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段162號

電話：04-23206800

官網：https://lihi2.me/Amijw

小結語

一頭牛日式燒肉不僅是「吃肉的地方」，更像是一場五感盛宴。從進門那一刻到最後一道甜點，都能感受到他們對細節的用心。
若要在公益路找一間能讓人「邊吃邊微笑」的燒肉店，一頭牛 絕對值得列入你的必訪清單。

TANG Zhan 湯棧｜文青系火鍋代表，麻香湯底與視覺美感並重

在公益路這條美食戰線上，TANG Zhan 湯棧 是讓人一眼就會想走進去的那一種。
黑灰調的現代外觀、搭配微霧玻璃與招牌的「湯棧」燈字，呈現出一種低調的時尚感。
店內設計延續品牌主題，以「湯」為靈魂打造整體體驗，從裝潢到香氣，都有濃厚的溫潤氣息。

餐點特色

湯棧最有名的當然是它的「麻香鍋」。
湯底以雞骨與多種辛香料慢熬，香氣濃郁卻不嗆辣，入口後會在喉間留下柔和的花椒香。
「招牌麻油雞鍋」與「黃金牛奶鍋」也是人氣選項，特別是在冬天，溫潤的湯底配上滑嫩肉片，讓人每一口都覺得暖心。
他們的「滷肉飯」和「香蔥豆腐皮」更是許多老客人必點的靈魂配角，簡單卻有記憶點。

用餐體驗

整體氛圍比一般火鍋店更有質感。
桌距寬敞、燈光柔和，店員動作俐落又親切。即使客滿，也不會感覺吵雜或壓迫。
不論是一個人想靜靜吃鍋、或是朋友聚餐，湯棧都能給你剛剛好的距離與溫度。
值得一提的是，上菜速度快、湯底續湯毫不手軟，細節服務到位。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段248號

電話：04-22580617

官網：https://www.facebook.com/TangZhan.tw/

小結語

NINI 尼尼臺中店｜明亮寬敞的義式早午餐天堂

如果說前兩間是肉食愛好者的天堂，那 NINI 尼尼臺中店 絕對是想放鬆、聊聊天的好地方。餐廳外觀以白色系與大片玻璃窗為主，陽光灑進室內，讓人一踏入就有種度假般的輕盈感。假日早午餐時段特別熱鬧，建議提早訂位。

餐點特色

NINI 的菜單融合義式與臺灣人口味，選擇多樣且份量十足。主打的 松露燉飯 濃郁卻不膩口，米芯保留微Q口感；而 香蒜海鮮義大利麵 則以新鮮白蝦、花枝與淡菜搭配微辣蒜香，口感層次豐富。
此外，他們的薄餅披薩相當受歡迎，餅皮薄脆、餡料新鮮，是三五好友共享的好選擇。

用餐體驗

店內氣氛輕鬆不拘謹，無論是一個人帶電腦工作、或朋友聚餐，都能找到舒服角落。餐點上桌速度穩定，服務人員態度親切、補水與收盤都非常主動。整體節奏讓人覺得「時間變慢了」，很適合想遠離忙碌日常的人。

綜合評分

地址：40861臺中市南屯區公益路二段18號

電話：04-23288498

官網：https://nini.com.tw/

小結語

加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物｜平價卻用心的湯頭系火鍋，家庭聚餐好選擇

在公益路這條高質感餐廳林立的戰場上，加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物 走的是截然不同的路線。它沒有浮誇的裝潢、也沒有高價位的套餐，但靠著實在的湯頭與親切的服務，默默吸引許多回頭客。每到用餐時間，總能看到家庭或情侶三兩成群地圍著鍋邊聊天。

餐點特色

主打 北海道浜中昆布湯底，湯頭清澈卻不單薄，越煮越能喝出海藻與柴魚的自然香氣。
我這次點的是「牛奶昆布鍋」，入口時奶香與昆布香完美融合，搭配新鮮的牛五花肉片，滑順又不膩。
菜盤走健康取向，蔬菜比例高，連玉米、南瓜、豆皮都能吃出甜味；附餐的烏龍麵Q彈有嚼勁，吃完十分有飽足感。

用餐體驗

整體氛圍偏家庭取向，桌距寬敞、座位舒適，帶小孩來也不覺擁擠。店員態度親切，補湯、收盤都很勤快，給人一種「被照顧著」的安心感。
最難得的是，即使價位不高，食材新鮮度仍維持得很好，能感受到店家對品質的堅持。

綜合評分

地址：403臺中市西區公益路288號

電話：0910855180

官網：https://giafine100.com/

小結語

加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物是一間「不浮誇、但會讓人想再訪」的火鍋店。它不追求豪華擺盤，而是用最簡單的湯頭與新鮮食材，傳遞出家常卻不平凡的溫度。
如果你想在公益路找一間可以放心帶家人一起吃的鍋物店，這裡絕對會讓人感到「加分」不少。

印月餐廳｜中式料理的藝術演繹，宴客與家庭聚會首選

說到臺中公益路的中式料理代表，印月餐廳 絕對是榜上有名。這間開業多年的餐廳以「中菜西吃」的概念聞名，把傳統中式料理以現代手法重新詮釋。從建築外觀到餐具擺設，每個細節都散發著低調的典雅氣息。
走進印月，挑高的空間、柔和的燈光與木質桌椅構成沉穩的氛圍。
不論是家庭聚餐、商務宴客，還是節日慶祝，都能找到恰到好處的格調。

餐點特色

印月最令人印象深刻的是他們將傳統中菜融入創意手法。
這次我品嚐的「松露雞湯」香氣濃郁、層次分明，一口下去既有中式的溫潤感，又帶出西式松露的奢華香氣。
「蒜香牛肋條」則是另一道招牌菜，外酥內嫩、油香十足，咬下去肉汁在口中散開，搭配特調醬汁非常過癮。
此外，他們的創意港點如「麻辣小籠包」與「金沙流沙包」也深受年輕客群喜愛，既保留經典又玩出新意。

用餐體驗

服務方面完全對得起餐廳的高級定位。從入座、點餐到上菜節奏，都拿捏得恰如其分。每道菜都會有服務人員細心介紹食材與吃法，讓人感受到「被款待」的尊榮感。
雖然價位偏中高，但在這樣的氛圍與品質下，物有所值。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段818號

電話：0422511155

官網：https://wein818.com/

小結語

印月餐廳是一間「不只吃飯，更像品味生活」的地方。
它成功地讓中式料理不再只是圓桌菜，而是能展現質感、講究細節的美食體驗。
若你在找一間能同時滿足味蕾與體面的餐廳，印月 絕對是公益路上的不敗經典。

KoDō 和牛燒肉｜極致職人精神，專為儀式感與頂級味覺而生

若要形容 KoDō 和牛燒肉 的用餐體驗，一句話足以總結——「像在欣賞一場關於肉的表演」。
隱身在公益路一隅，KoDō 的外觀低調典雅，店內以深色木質調與間接照明營造出沉穩氛圍。
從踏入店門那一刻開始，服務人員的態度、動線、聲音控制，全都精準到位，讓人彷彿走進日式劇場。

餐點特色

這裡主打 日本A5和牛冷藏肉，以「精切厚燒」的方式呈現。
我點的「壽喜燒風和牛套餐」是本日最驚艷的一道——服務人員現場以鐵鍋輕煎，再淋上特製壽喜燒醬汁，香氣瞬間瀰漫整桌。
肉片油花細緻、入口即化，搭配生蛋液後更添柔滑口感。
另一道「冷藏肋眼心」則保留了和牛的彈性與甜度，每一口都能感受到油脂與炭火交織出的層次。
即使是配角如「季節小菜」與「日式和風飯」也毫不馬虎，整體呈現出高級卻不造作的平衡。

用餐體驗

KoDō 的最大特色是「儀式感」。
每位店員的動作都有節奏，從擺盤、火候、換網到講解，都像排練過無數次的演出。
在這裡用餐，會自然地放慢速度，專注於每一口肉帶來的細膩變化。
特別推薦搭配店內的紅酒或日本威士忌，風味更加圓潤。

綜合評分

地址：403臺中市西區公益路260號

電話：0423220312

官網：https://www.facebook.com/kodo2018/

小結語

KoDō 和牛燒肉不是日常餐廳，而是一場體驗。
從環境、服務到食材，每個細節都讓人感受到對「完美」的執著。
若你想在公益路找一間能讓人留下深刻印象、適合紀念日慶祝的餐廳，KoDō 絕對是值得收藏的一次「味覺儀式」。

永心鳳茶｜在茶香裡用餐的優雅時光，臺味早午餐的新詮釋

走進 永心鳳茶公益店，彷彿進入一間有氣質的茶館。
柔和的燈光灑在復古綠牆上，搭配大理石桌面與金色餐具，整體氛圍既典雅又帶有一絲文青氣息。
這裡不只是喝茶的地方，更像是把「臺灣味」以早午餐的形式重新演繹。

餐點特色

永心鳳茶的餐點結合中式靈魂與西式擺盤，無論是「炸雞腿飯」還是「紅玉紅茶拿鐵」，都能讓人感受到熟悉卻不平凡的味道。
炸雞腿外酥內嫩，搭配自製酸菜與溏心蛋，鹹香中帶著層次感。
「鳳茶甜點拼盤」則以茶為靈魂——伯爵茶蛋糕、烏龍茶奶酪、紅茶雪酥，每一口都有細緻的香氣變化。
最特別的是他們的茶飲，從臺灣高山紅茶到金萱冷泡茶，每一壺都現泡現倒，香氣清雅。
對我而言，這不只是一頓飯，更是一段放鬆的午後儀式。

用餐體驗

店內服務人員態度溫和，對茶品介紹詳盡。上餐節奏剛好，不急不徐。
整體氛圍很「耐坐」，許多客人吃完正餐後仍會續點一壺茶聊天。
音樂輕柔、光線柔和，是那種可以靜靜待上兩小時的地方。

綜合評分

地址：40360臺中市西區公益路68號三樓(勤美誠品)

電話：0423221118

官網：https://linktr.ee/yonshin

小結語

永心鳳茶讓人重新定義「臺味」。
它不走傳統路線，而是把熟悉的元素以更細緻、更現代的方式呈現。
無論是姊妹下午茶、親子餐聚，或是想一個人沉澱片刻，永心鳳茶 都是一處能讓人慢下來、品味生活的好地方。

三希樓｜老饕級江浙功夫菜，穩重又帶人情味的中式饗宴

位於公益路上的 三希樓 是許多臺中老饕的口袋名單。
它沒有浮誇的裝潢，卻有一種低調的自信。從大門進入，就能聞到淡淡的醬香與蒸氣味，那是正宗江浙菜的靈魂。
整體裝潢以深木色為主，搭配圓桌與包廂設計，非常適合家庭聚餐或請客宴會。

餐點特色

三希樓的菜色以 江浙與港式料理 為主，兼顧傳統與現代風味。
我這次點了「東坡肉」與「蝦仁炒飯」，兩道都展現了主廚深厚的火候功力。
東坡肉油亮卻不膩，入口即化、鹹甜交織；蝦仁炒飯粒粒分明、香氣十足，每一口都吃得到鑊氣。
此外，「小籠包」皮薄多汁，是幾乎每桌必點的招牌；港點類如「金牌流沙包」與「干貝燒賣」也都表現穩定。

用餐體驗

三希樓的服務給人一種老派但貼心的感覺。
店員上菜節奏掌握得很好，會主動幫忙分菜、收盤，態度沉穩而不打擾。
最讓我印象深刻的是，這裡的客群非常多元——有帶長輩的家庭、公司聚餐，也有情侶共度節日，卻都能在同一空間裡感到自在。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段95號

電話：0423202322

官網：https://www.sanxilou.com.tw/

小結語

三希樓是一間「吃得出功夫」的餐廳。
它不追求創新，而是用穩定的味道與真材實料，抓住每一位饕客的胃。
如果你想在公益路上找一間能兼顧長輩口味、氣氛又不拘謹的中餐廳，三希樓 絕對是最穩妥的選擇。

一笈壽司｜低調奢華的無菜單日料，職人手藝詮釋旬味極致

在熱鬧的公益路上，一笈壽司 低調得幾乎不顯眼。
外觀簡約，沒有華麗招牌，只有小小的木質門面與柔黃燈光。
一推開門，迎面而來的是日式杉木香氣與寧靜的氛圍，吧檯座位整齊排列，主廚站在中間，彷彿舞臺上的演出者。

餐點特色

一笈壽司採 Omakase（無菜單料理） 形式，每一餐都由主廚根據當日食材設計。
我這次選擇中價位套餐（約 $1200），共十多道料理，從前菜、小鉢、刺身、握壽司到甜點一氣呵成。
「比目魚鰭邊握」是整場最驚豔的瞬間——主廚以火槍輕炙，油脂瞬間釋放，入口後化成柔滑香氣。
「甜蝦海膽軍艦」則完美展現鮮度與層次感，海膽甘甜、甜蝦緊實。
搭配主廚親自調配的醬汁，每一口都像在品嚐季節的節奏。

用餐體驗

整場用餐約90分鐘，節奏緩慢但沉穩。
主廚會邊料理邊與客人互動，介紹魚種產地與食材處理方式。
雖然整體空間不大，但氣氛極佳——柔和的音樂、清酒的香氣、刀刃切魚時的聲音，讓人完全沉浸其中。
特別喜歡他們最後的甜點「焙茶奶酪」，收尾清爽優雅，為整場體驗畫下完美句點。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段25號

電話：0423206368

官網：https://www.facebook.com/YIJI.sushi/

小結語

一笈壽司是一間真正讓人「放慢呼吸」的餐廳。
這裡沒有多餘擺盤，也不靠噱頭，而是以主廚對食材的尊重與技術堆疊出一場味覺饗宴。
若你想在公益路體驗日本料理最純粹的精神，一笈壽司 絕對值得你預約、靜靜期待。

茶六燒肉堂｜人氣爆棚的和牛燒肉聖地，肉香與幸福感同時滿分

若要票選公益路上「最難訂位」的餐廳，茶六燒肉堂 絕對名列前茅。
不管平日或假日，用餐時段幾乎一位難求。外觀以木質格柵搭配大面玻璃設計，呈現出年輕又有質感的風格。店內空間明亮、桌距適中，播放著輕快的音樂，整體氛圍熱鬧中帶點高級感，是許多年輕人聚餐、慶生的首選地。

餐點特色

茶六主打 和牛燒肉套餐，價格約落在 $700–$1000 間，份量與品質兼具。
我這次點的是「厚切牛舌套餐」，肉片厚實彈牙，略帶脆感，搭配鹽蔥提味剛剛好。
另一道「和牛拼盤」也相當受歡迎，油花分布均勻、香氣濃郁，輕烤幾秒即可入口即化。
套餐附餐部分也相當用心：沙拉新鮮、味噌湯濃郁，最後還有一份「茶香冰淇淋」作結尾，香氣清爽，完美收尾。

用餐體驗

茶六的服務效率相當高。店員親切、換網勤快、補水速度快，整場用餐流程流暢無壓力。
雖然客人很多，但環境維持得乾淨整潔，動線規劃良好。
最令人印象深刻的是他們的 整體節奏拿捏得剛剛好 ——餐點上桌快、氣氛熱絡，卻不會讓人覺得匆忙。
不論是朋友聚會、家庭聚餐，甚至是情侶約會，都能找到各自的樂趣。

綜合評分

地址：403臺中市西區公益路268號

電話：0423281167

官網：https://inline.app/booking/-L93VSXuz8o86ahWDRg0:inline-live-karuizawa/-LUYUEIOYwa7GCUpAFWA

小結語

茶六燒肉堂用「穩定品質＋輕奢氛圍」抓住了臺中年輕族群的心。
不論是第一次約會還是老朋友重聚，都能在這裡找到屬於燒肉的快樂節奏。
若你在公益路只想挑一家「保證不踩雷」的燒肉店，茶六燒肉堂 絕對是首選。

吃完10家公益路餐廳後的心得與結語

吃完這十家餐廳後，臺中公益路不只是一條美食街，而是一段生活風景線。

有的餐廳講究細膩與儀式感，像 一頭牛日式燒肉 與 一笈壽司，讓人感受到食材最純粹的美好

有的則以親切與溫度打動人心，像 加分昆布鍋物、永心鳳茶，讓人明白吃飯不只是為了飽足，而是一種被照顧的幸福。

而像茶六燒肉堂、TANG Zhan 湯棧 這類人氣名店，則用穩定的品質與熱絡的氛圍，成為許多臺中人心中「想吃肉就去那裡」的代名詞。

這十家店，構成了公益路最動人的縮影

有華麗的，也有溫柔的；有傳統的，也有創新的。

 每一家都在自己的風格裡發光，讓人吃到的不只是料理，而是一種生活的溫度與節奏。

對我而言，這不僅是一場美食旅程，更是一趟關於「臺中味道」的回憶之旅。

FAQ：關於臺中公益路美食常見問題

Q1：公益路哪一區的餐廳最集中？
 最熱鬧的區段大約在「公益路與黎明路口」一帶，這裡聚集了許多知名餐廳，從高級燒肉到早午餐通通有。
像 一頭牛日式燒肉、TANG Zhan 湯棧、茶六燒肉堂 都在這附近，交通方便、停車也相對容易。

Q2：需要提前訂位嗎？
 公益路的熱門餐廳幾乎都建議 提早3～5天訂位，尤其是假日或節慶期間。
特別是 一頭牛日式燒肉、KoDō 和牛燒肉、一笈壽司 這幾家，若臨時前往幾乎很難有位。

最後的話

若要用一句話形容這趟美食之旅，我會說：
「在公益路，吃飯不是選擇，而是一種享受。」
這條路上的每一次用餐，都像一段城市裡的小旅行。
下次當你不確定想吃什麼時，不妨沿著公益路走一圈，或許下一家，正好就是你新的最愛。

加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物網路評價符合期待嗎？

如果你也和我一樣喜歡用味蕾探索一座城市，那就把這篇公益路美食攻略收藏起來吧。永心鳳茶套餐劃算嗎？

無論是約會、慶生、家庭聚餐，或只是想犒賞一下辛苦的自己——這條路上永遠會有一間剛剛好的餐廳在等你。加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物調味偏重嗎？

下一餐，不妨從這10家開始。一笈壽司有什麼隱藏版必點嗎？

打開手機、約上朋友，讓公益路成為你生活裡最容易抵達的小確幸。一笈壽司適合多人團聚嗎？

如果你有私心愛店，也歡迎留言分享，茶六燒肉堂長官聚餐合適嗎？

你的推薦，可能讓我下一趟美食旅程變得更精彩。三希樓甜點好吃嗎？

Researchers found that people in REM sleep can communicate and engage in real-time interaction, comprehending questions and providing answers. Dreaming Minds Can Communicate in Real Time Dreams take us to what feels like a different reality. They also happen while we’re fast asleep. So, you might not expect that a person in the midst of a vivid dream would be able to perceive questions and provide answers to them. But a new study reported in the journal Current Biology on February 18, 2021, shows that, in fact, they can. “We found that individuals in REM sleep can interact with an experimenter and engage in real-time communication,” said senior author Ken Paller of Northwestern University. “We also showed that dreamers are capable of comprehending questions, engaging in working-memory operations, and producing answers. “Most people might predict that this would not be possible — that people would either wake up when asked a question or fail to answer, and certainly not comprehend a question without misconstruing it.” While dreams are a common experience, scientists still haven’t adequately explained them. Relying on a person’s recounting of dreams is also fraught with distortions and forgotten details. So, Paller and colleagues decided to attempt communication with people during lucid dreams. This photo shows Konkoly watching brain signals from a sleeping participant in the lab. Researchers are working to expand and refine two-way communications with sleeping people so more complex conversations may one day be possible. Credit: K. Konkoly “Our experimental goal is akin to finding a way to talk with an astronaut who is on another world, but in this case the world is entirely fabricated on the basis of memories stored in the brain,” the researchers write. They realized finding a means to communicate could open the door in future investigations to learn more about dreams, memory, and how memory storage depends on sleep, the researchers say. The researchers studied 36 people who aimed to have a lucid dream, in which a person is aware they’re dreaming. The paper is unusual in that it includes four independently conducted experiments using different approaches to achieve a similar goal. In addition to the group at Northwestern University in the U.S., one group conducted studies at Sorbonne University in France, one at Osnabrück University in Germany, and one at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “We put the results together because we felt that the combination of results from four different labs using different approaches most convincingly attests to the reality of this phenomenon of two-way communication,” said Karen Konkoly, a PhD student at Northwestern University and first author of the paper. “In this way, we see that different means can be used to communicate.” This photo shows Mazurek in a full EEG rig just before a sleep session in the lab. The electrodes on his face will detect the movement of his eyes as he sleeps. Credit: C. Mazurek Understanding and Responding in Dreams One of the individuals who readily succeeded with two-way communication had narcolepsy and frequent lucid dreams. Among the others, some had lots of experience in lucid dreaming and others did not. Overall, the researchers found that it was possible for people while dreaming to follow instructions, do simple math, answer yes-or-no questions, or tell the difference between different sensory stimuli. They could respond using eye movements or by contracting facial muscles. The researchers refer to it as “interactive dreaming.” Konkoly says that future studies of dreaming could use these same methods to assess cognitive abilities during dreams versus wake. They also could help verify the accuracy of post-awakening dream reports. Outside of the laboratory, the methods could be used to help people in various ways, such as solving problems during sleep or offering nightmare sufferers novel ways to cope. Follow-up experiments run by members of the four research teams aim to learn more about connections between sleep and memory processing, and about how dreams may shed light on this memory processing. Reference: “Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep” by Karen R. Konkoly, Kristoffer Appel, Emma Chabani, Anastasia Mangiaruga, Jarrod Gott, Remington Mallett, Bruce Caughran, Sarah Witkowski, Nathan W. Whitmore, Christopher Y. Mazurek, Jonathan B. Berent, Frederik D. Weber, Basak Türker, Smaranda Leu-Semenescu, Jean-Baptiste Maranci, Gordon Pipa and Isabelle Arnulf, 18 February 2021, Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026 This work was supported by the Mind Science Foundation, National Science Foundation, Société Française de Recherche et Médecine du Sommeil (SFRMS), Hans-Mühlenhoff-Stiftung Osnabrück, a Vidi grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and COST Action CA18106 supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). Students in Paller’s lab group have also developed a smartphone app that aims to make it easier for people to achieve lucidity during their dreams: https://pallerlab.psych.northwestern.edu/dream

Dragana Rogulja is a researcher who uses fruit flies and mice to delve into intriguing aspects of sleep, exploring its necessity for survival and the disconnection of the sleeping brain from the external world. Her investigations have revealed a crucial link between the brain and the gut, with potential implications for humans. Should her findings be applied to humans, they may pave the way for innovative approaches to enhance sleep quality and mitigate the negative effects of sleep deprivation. New Sleep Research Has Unveiled Surprising Links Between the Brain and the Gut Sleep holds paramount importance among human activities — its deficiency even for a single night can impede our cognitive functions, responsiveness, and overall daily performance. Despite its critical role in health and survival, the scientific understanding of sleep remains incomplete. Enter Dragana Rogulja, a neurobiologist on a quest to unravel the basic biology of sleep. As a self-described latecomer to science, Rogulja found herself drawn to questions she considers “broadly interesting and easy to understand on a basic human level.” One of these questions…What happens when we sleep? For Rogulja, an associate professor of neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, an intriguing aspect of sleep is the loss of consciousness and awareness it brings, as the outside world disappears and the inner world takes over. In a conversation with Harvard Medicine News, Rogulja delved into the details of her sleep research, which uses fruit flies and mice to explore why we need to sleep and how we disconnect from the world during sleep. Harvard Medicine News: What are you studying in the context of sleep? Rogulja: There are two main questions that my lab has been pursuing for the past several years. The first is why sleep is necessary for survival. Why is it that if you don’t sleep, you will literally die after not too long? The other question is how your brain disconnects from the environment when you fall asleep. How are stimuli prevented from reaching your brain during sleep? Elevating the threshold for sensory arousal is essential for sleep, and we want to understand how that barrier is built around the brain. Sleep is one unified state, but it seems to have multiple components that are regulated through separate mechanisms. We want to understand those mechanisms. HMNews: How has your research changed how you think about sleep? Rogulja: For a long time, scientists have been guided by the principle that sleep is of the brain, by the brain, and for the brain. As a result, research has largely focused on the brain in terms of looking for reasons why sleep is necessary for survival. However, we are now realizing that while sleep may be for the brain, it’s not just for the brain. Sleep is a super old behavior that we think originated in the earliest animals. These animals had no brain; they only had a very simple nervous system. Then, as animals became more complex, these brain-related purposes of sleep evolved. However, researchers have looked at the brains of sleep-deprived animals to try to find a reason why they die, and they haven’t found anything. On the other hand, clinical data show that sleep deprivation in humans leads to all kinds of diseases in the body. To us, this really suggested that sleep is about more than just the brain. Our research tells us that we need to stop thinking about the brain separately from the body when it comes to sleep. I’m still shocked by the degree to which neuroscientists tend to think about the brain as having superiority over the body and being at the top of a hierarchy. To solve the biggest mysteries in neuroscience, we need to take a more integrated approach, which is what my lab is trying to do for sleep. We have found that we really need to think about the whole body to understand sleep. And it makes sense. When you go to sleep, your muscles relax, and your circulation changes. Of course, it’s about the whole body. HMNews: What tools do you use to study sleep? Rogulja: Historically, a lot of sleep research has been done on humans, but those experiments tend to be limited and descriptive, because you can’t really do experimentation on humans. However, over the last two and a half decades, scientists have come to realize that fruit flies sleep; and more recently, we figured out that the genes that regulate sleep in flies are conserved in mice. When I started my lab, we were only using fruit flies as a model system to study sleep, but we have since been able to establish a mouse model as well. Fruit flies allow us to test a lot of hypotheses quickly and do large, unbiased genetic screens, and then we can test what we find out in flies in mice, which, as mammals, are more similar to humans. HMNews: In your 2020 Cell paper, you tackled the question of why sleep is necessary for survival. What’s the answer? We found that fruit flies who slept less had shorter lifespans: We saw a correlation where the more sleep the flies lost, the faster they died. Interestingly, the mode of sleep deprivation did not matter. What mattered was the amount of sleep lost. There seemed to be an inflection point where sleep loss was associated with death, which told us that there might be something specific happening in the body as opposed to general wear and tear. To investigate this further, we stained different organs in sleep-deprived flies with markers of cell damage. We found that in the gut, there was an increase in oxidizing molecules, and the peak of oxidation correlated with the inflection point where the flies started to die. We confirmed this finding in sleep-deprived mice. But when we gave sleep-deprived flies antioxidants or turned on antioxidant-producing genes in the gut, we found the flies could survive on little or no sleep, suggesting that the gut is a really important target of sleep. HMNews: Are there any possible applications for humans? Our findings suggest that if we can prevent oxidation in the gut, we might be able to counteract the effect of losing sleep. This is important because a lot of diseases are tied to gut dysfunction, and many diseases that arise when you don’t sleep enough may actually be a consequence of gut damage. We’re now starting to think about how to diagnose gut oxidation due to lack of sleep in humans. We want to design “swallowables” — pills or tablets you could swallow that report the oxidative state of your gut by, for example, changing the color of your feces. We’re also looking for biomarkers: molecules already circulating in the body that indicate lack of sleep and gut oxidation. I have physicians in my lab who are profiling sleep-deprived mice to look for such biomarkers. We already have some molecules that are promising markers for oxidation and seem to decrease with antioxidant treatments. Eventually, it may be possible to design supplements that could be taken orally to reverse gut oxidation due to lack of sleep. HMNews: You just published a new paper in Cell that explores how the brain disconnects from the environment during sleep. Tell us more. Until now, we knew almost nothing about this. It wasn’t clear if there is a single place in the brain where all sensory information is attenuated during sleep, or if there are multiple such places. For example, are touch and temperature processed the same way during sleep? Iris Titos, a postdoctoral researcher in my lab, built a system that can deliver mild, medium, or high levels of vibration to fruit flies. Typically, when you use low-intensity vibrations, very few flies wake up, and when you use high-intensity vibrations, almost all the flies react. Then, we did a large-scale screen to identify genes that control how easily flies wake up — so genes that make flies super easy to wake up, and genes that allow flies to essentially sleep through an earthquake. HMNews: What did the genetic screen show? The results of the screen were very interesting. We identified a gene that codes for a molecule called CCHa1. When we depleted CCHa1 in the flies, they woke up very easily — so instead of 20 percent waking up at a particular level of vibration, 90 percent woke up. However, while CCHa1 is present in both the nervous system and the gut, it was only when we depleted it in the gut that flies were roused more easily. The cells in the gut that produce CCHa1 are called enteroendocrine cells, and they actually share many characteristics with neurons and can even connect and communicate with neurons. These cells face the inside of the gut, and they sort of “taste” the contents of the gut. We found that the higher concentration of protein in the diet, the more CCHa1 these gut cells produced. This molecule then travels from the gut to the brain, where it signals to a small group of dopaminergic neurons that also receive information about vibrations. These neurons produce dopamine, which usually promotes arousal, but in this case, suppresses arousal. Vibrations weaken the activity of the dopaminergic neurons, which causes the flies to wake up more easily. CCHa1 produced by the gut essentially buffers the dopaminergic neurons against vibrations, allowing the flies to ignore the environment to a greater degree and sleep more deeply. We also found that the CCHa1 pathway, while critical for gating mechanosensory information, has no influence on how easily the flies wake up when exposed to heat, suggesting that different sensory modalities such as vibration and temperature can be gated independently. Finally, we showed that a higher protein diet also improved the quality of sleep in mice, making them more resistant to mechanical disturbances. We are now testing whether a similar signaling pathway is involved in mice. HMNews: What do these findings tell you? Well, we know from other research that when animals are starving, they suppress sleep in order to forage. By contrast, when they’re satiated, and especially when they’re satiated with proteins, they tend to sleep more. Now, we’ve shown that when there’s more protein in the diet, animals also sleep more deeply and become less responsive. This suggests that if animals don’t need to look for food, they can disconnect from the environment and hide somewhere to sleep, which might be safer. More broadly, our study implies that dietary choices impact sleep quality. Now we can explore this connection in humans to understand how diet could be manipulated to improve sleep. HMNews: Is there anything about sleep that you think people often misunderstand? Rogulja: One thing that I think people should be aware of is that how we feel and what’s going on in our bodies don’t have to be the same. In our research, we found that it’s possible to separate the feeling of sleepiness from the need to sleep — some sleep-deprived animals didn’t necessarily feel sleepy, which we could tell because they didn’t sleep extra to catch up on sleep after the deprivation stopped, but these animals still died from the lack of sleep. This means that even if we can trick ourselves into not feeling sleepy, the lack of sleep still has negative effects on our bodies — for example, if you take a substance that makes you feel awake, the same amount of oxidation is going to happen in your gut. People may say that they’re OK with only a few hours of sleep a night, but they just mean that they can make it through the day. Their bodies are still going to register the lack of sleep. We really cannot tell what’s happening in our bodies as a result of sleep deprivation, and we probably need more sleep than we think we do. References: “A gut-secreted peptide suppresses arousability from sleep” by Iris Titos, Alen Juginović, Alexandra Vaccaro, Keishi Nambara, Pavel Gorelik, Ofer Mazor and Dragana Rogulja, 22 March 2023, Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.02.022 Reference: “Sleep Loss Can Cause Death through Accumulation of Reactive Oxygen Species in the Gut” by Alexandra Vaccaro, Yosef Kaplan Dor, Keishi Nambara, Elizabeth A. Pollina, Cindy Lin, Michael E. Greenberg and Dragana Rogulja, 4 June 2020, Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.049 Additional authors on the 2023 Cell paper include Alen Juginović, Alexandra Vaccaro, Keishi Nambara, Pavel Gorelik, and Ofer Mazor of HMS. The research was supported by the New York Stem Cell Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences.

A new study reveals how the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 interacts with Fragile X-related proteins, impacting its spread and suggesting increased vulnerability for individuals with Fragile X Syndrome. Credit: SciTechDaily.com Researchers have found an unexpected connection between coronavirus and Fragile X Syndrome, which is the most common hereditary cause of intellectual disability. How does coronavirus spread through the body? A new study can help us answer that question. Professor Jakob Nilsson from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research is one of the researchers responsible for the study. “When a virus infects the body, it hijacks part of the body’s machinery either to produce new virus particles or to counteract the cell’s antiviral defense. What we wanted to know was which part of the machinery SARS-CoV-2 targets,” Jakob Nilsson says. SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus variant that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. “This suggests that we should perhaps be more attentive to these patients.” Professor Jakob Nilsson “We were extremely surprised to find that SARS-CoV-2 hijacks proteins associated with Fragile X Syndrome, which is the most common hereditary cause of intellectual disability,” Jakob Nilsson says. To further explore the connection between coronavirus and the Fragile X-related proteins, Postdoc Dimitriya Garvanska, who did the lab work, used various cell-biological and biochemical methods to understand the process. The team wanted to know whether hijacking the Fragile X-related proteins was vital to the virus’ ability to spread through the body. Together with a group of researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch, they therefore produced a ‘mutant virus’. Fragile X Syndrome The syndrome, which is caused by a defect in the so-called FMR1 gene, is the most common cause of hereditary intellectual disability. It is characterised by intellectual disability – often moderate to severe in boys/men and mild in girls/women. Around 1 in 4,000 baby boys and 1 in 10,000 baby girls are born with Fragile X Syndrome. “We mutated a small part of the virus protein, NSP3, that binds to the Fragile X-related proteins, and the cell culture test showed that this reduces the virus’ ability to spread. Moreover, tests on hamsters showed that infection with the mutated virus had a less severe impact on the lungs in the early stages of infection,” Dimitriya Garvanska explains and adds: “That is, binding to Fragile X-related proteins is vital to the virus’ ability to spread. Subsequent tests showed that these proteins are part of the cell’s antiviral defense, and that SARS-CoV-2 seeks to counteract this defense system by hijacking the proteins.” The results of the study may indicate that persons with Fragile X Syndrome are more susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses. “This suggests that we should perhaps be more attentive to these patients,” Jakob Nilsson says. The study provides insight into the possible cause of Fragile X Syndrome Aside from identifying the connection between coronavirus and Fragile X Syndrome, Jakob Nilsson, Dimitriya Garvanska and their colleagues also gained a deeper understanding of Fragile X Syndrome. “We know that Fragile X-related proteins are key to brain development. Because when we do not have enough of them, we run into problems. But we do not know why they are so important. In this study, we have learned that they bind to another protein, UBAP2L, which helps determine which proteins the cell produces,” Jakob Nilsson says. The researchers also found that mutations in the Fragile X-related proteins prevent them from binding to UBAP2L. “This suggests that to understand Fragile X Syndrome we need to understand how this affects the production of proteins in the cell,” Jakob Nilsson explains. While the new study can be described as fundamental research, the results may nevertheless prove useful in future treatment. “So far, this is speculation. But basically, the more insight we gain into these mechanisms, the better are our chances of impacting them in the future,” Jakob Nilsson concludes. You can read the study “SARS-CoV-2 hijacks fragile X mental retardation proteins for efficient infection” in EMBO Reports. Reference: “The NSP3 protein of SARS-CoV-2 binds fragile X mental retardation proteins to disrupt UBAP2L interactions” by Dimitriya H Garvanska, R Elias Alvarado, Filip Oskar Mundt, Richard Lindqvist, Josephine Kerzel Duel, Fabian Coscia, Emma Nilsson, Kumari Lokugamage, Bryan A Johnson, Jessica A Plante, Dorothea R Morris, Michelle N Vu, Leah K Estes, Alyssa M Mc Leland, Jordyn Walker, Patricia A Crocquet-Valdes, Blanca Lopez Mendez, Kenneth S Plante, David H Walker, Melanie Bianca Weisser, Anna K Överby, Matthias Mann, Vineet D Menachery and Jakob Nilsson, 2 January 2024, EMBO Reports. DOI: 10.1038/s44319-023-00043-z

RRG455KLJIEVEWWF