| Summary: | Abstract Motivation and its hedonic valence are powerful modulators of sleep/wake behavior, yet its underlying mechanism is still poorly understood. Given the well‐established role of midbrain dopamine (mDA) neurons in encoding motivation and emotional valence, here, neuronal mechanisms mediating sleep/wake regulation are systematically investigated by DA neurotransmission. It is discovered that mDA mediates the strong modulation of sleep/wake states by motivational valence. Surprisingly, this modulation can be uncoupled from the classically employed measures of circadian and homeostatic processes of sleep regulation. These results establish the experimental foundation for an additional new factor of sleep regulation. Furthermore, an electroencephalographic marker during wakefulness at the theta range is identified that can be used to reliably track valence‐related modulation of sleep. Taken together, this study identifies mDA signaling as an important neural substrate mediating sleep modulation by motivational valence.
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