Mapping the genes and neurons that regulate sleep homeostasis

Grantholders

  • Dr Jason Rihel

    University College London

Project summary

Although we spend a third of our lives asleep, how and why the brain switches off at night remains a great mystery. Especially unclear are the mechanisms that trigger increases in sleep pressure, which is the increased drive to sleep after periods of prolonged wakefulness. Since sleep is nearly universal in the animal kingdom, we can use simpler organisms like the zebrafish to identify the signals that drive sleep pressure and map where these signals are read in the brain. 

We will generate genetically altered zebrafish that have deficits in their response to sleep deprivation. We will take advantage of the optical translucency of the larval zebrafish brain to watch brain activity during changes in sleep pressure. 

As many people suffer adverse health consequences from poor sleep, any advance in our basic understanding of how sleep works could ultimately have a clinical impact.