Dive into the complete episode list for Sleep Science Podcast. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Pub. Date
Title
Duration
09 Mar 2022
S2E9 - End of season Q&A Session
00:28:05
For our end of season special, we have the rest of the NaPS lab in to answer a number of exciting sleep-related questions from our listeners. These touch on a range of different subjects from sleeps involvement in weight gain to alcohol's effect on sleep. Thanks to those who sent in questions!
List of Questions: 1. What is it in general anaesthetic that completely prevents a patient from waking up mid-surgery? Is this a similar state to being in a deep sleep or is this different entirely? 3:43
2. Can having daytime naps improve your memory? 5:24
3. Can a good sleep schedule help you lose weight? 6:40
4. Why do people tend to have a deeper sleep after drinking alcohol? 8:26
5.Can a lack of sleep really impact the way your brain works long term? 11:24
6.Why do children with ASD struggle to fall asleep and maintain sleep? 12:54 7. How does loud snoring or sleep talking wake up other people but not manage to wake up the person themselves? 16:13
8. How does drinking lots of caffeinated drinks affect our sleep wake cycle? 19:17
9. How does hibernation differ from a normal sleep in some animals? 21:05
10. When people say the term “just sleep on it” after a row or an emotional experience, is there any truth in this? Does sleep help you process emotions? 23:24
11. How much is sleep deprivation related to our immunity? 25:05
This episode was produced by Bella Mills-Smith
This recording is property of the sleep science podcast and not for resale
This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.
22 Dec 2024
S3E1 - Start of Season Christmas Q&A
00:28:17
To kickstart season 3 of the Sleep Science Podcast, we have the lab behind the podcast, NaPS Lab, to answer some great sleep-related questions from our listeners. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions! Want to find out more about the team and the lab? Check out our website here.
1. What is lucid dreaming? - Answered by Mo Abdellahi
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31 Jan 2025
S3E2 - Francesca Siclari - Parasomnias and dreaming
00:43:29
Sleepwalking, sleep talking, night terrors - how do they occur and why do some people have them more than others?
Join us as we discuss with Professor Francesca Siclari her work looking at non-REM parasomnias and the link to dreaming. We discuss the various forms that non-REM parasomnias can take, how they differ between adults and children and what the potential consequences of them can be.
This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.
14 Mar 2025
S3E3 - Can sleep make us more creative?
00:53:55
In this deep dive episode, we look at how sleep onset can help creativity.
With our amazing guest speakers, Professor Bob Stickgold, Dr Adam Horowitz, Professor Delphine Oudiette and Dr Celia Lacaux, we take a look at their work on creativity, dreams and N1 sleep.
Together, we discuss different definitions of creativity, what defines N1 and what it is about N1 that makes it prime time for creative processing.
This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.
24 Aug 2020
Episode 1: Bob Stickgold - What do sleep and dreams do for our minds and our memories?
00:47:54
In this episode, we speak with Professor Bob Stickgold, one of the most prominent researchers in the field of sleep science. Bob tells us about the early days of sleep research and how he and other scientists struggled to convince the world that sleep really is important for memory. He also talks about methodological subtleties to investigate the role of sleep on cognitive functions, the purpose of dreaming, and offline default mode processing in general, and what he sees as the most interesting future research directions of sleep.
Produced by: Eniko Simo
See Professor Stickgold's faculty profile here. His new book 'When Brains Dream' is here.
If you'd like to read more about the topics Professor Stickgold mentioned you can find some of his related publications here:
This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.
25 Aug 2020
Episode 2: Sasha Handley - A history of sleep in Early Modern England
00:33:46
In this episode we look back on the beliefs and practices people had around sleep in the 16th-18th centuries. We learn about why sleep was thought so important for health, how various habits and superstitions arose around sleep often rooted in medicine or religion, and how the bedroom became a symbol of status and power. We also cover how the electrification of society radically changed our relationship with sleep.
Produced by: Dominic Carr
If you'd like to learn more about Professor Sasha Handley's work on the history of sleep, or are interested in checking out her book, feel free to follow the links below:
This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.
15 Sep 2020
Episode 3: Gina Poe - How sleep restructures our memories and emotions
00:43:33
In this episode we ask Gina Poe, a sleep scientist from UCLA, about her seminal work on both REM and non-REM sleep. We talk about the role of memory replay in REM, how to measure such replay in rats, as well as the ways in which REM impacts upon emotional representations, and may even help us to combat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We also discuss the importance of sleep spindles for updating conceptual knowledge. Finally, we describe Professor Poe's ground-breaking findings on local sleep and how these may change the face of sleep research in the future.
Glossary: EEG = Electroencephalography is an electrophysiological monitoring method for non-invasively recording the electrical activity of the brain via electrodes placed on the scalp.
Heterosynaptic plasticity = when synaptic pathways that were not directly stimulated themselves undergo changes (synaptic plasticity) as a result of neighbouring synapses being stimulated. Often this means that as one pathway is used and strengthened, an unused neighbouring pathway gets weakened.
PTSD = Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.
Schema = a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information.
Spindle = distinct brain waves with frequency 11-16 Hz (measured with EEG).
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17 Sep 2020
Episode 4: Vlad Vyazovskiy - Local sleep, circadian rhythms and torpor
00:46:54
In this episode we examine how sleep differs between species to get some clues about what sleep actually is as a phenomenon. How have marine animals solved the problem of sleeping when they regularly need to come up for air? And how do amphibians adapt their sleep architecture from life at sea to life on the land? What can mice running on their wheels tell us about what may be happening in our brains when we're performing tasks on autopilot? How do states like hibernation or torpor relate to sleep? Are sleep stages really as homogeneous as we like to think? Might even plants show some ability to learn connected to their circadian rhythms? We will find out the answers to all of these questions and more in conversation with Dr Vlad Vyazovskiy.
If you'd like to find out more about Dr Vyazovskiy's work you can find his Oxford University profile and a link to Oxford's Sleep & Circadian Neuroscience Institute below.
Vlad recommends the following articles if you'd like to learn more about hibernation, wheel running, or local sleep:
Glossary Crepuscular = active during twilight Diurnal = Active during the day Down state = silent/non-firing period of a neuron Homeothermic = animals that maintain a stable body temperature LTP = Long Term Potentiation, a long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections Photoperiod = day length Sleep homeostasis = the pressure to sleep that builds up with time awake. It is linked to the accumulation of adenosine as we break down ATP to provide energy for various activities.
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21 Sep 2020
Episode 5: Anat Arzi & Thomas Andrillon - Learning in your sleep
01:00:32
We humans have long wondered if it is possible to learn while we sleep but, experimental findings on this have often been disappointing. You will now be happy to learn that the tide has turned in this respect, since we now have firm proof that it IS indeed possible to learn new information while you sleep. However - the information your brain can pick up in this manner might not exactly go as easy as you hope it would.
In this episode, we interviewed Dr. Anat Arzi and Dr. Thomas Andrillon two of the first researchers to incontrovertibly demonstrate that the human brain can learn during sleep. They tell us about the similarities and the differences between their results and we speculate about the possible reasons behind the disparities.
Associative learning = a learning process in which a new response becomes associated with a particular stimulus.
Perceptual learning = repeated exposure enhances the ability to discriminate between two (or more) otherwise confusable stimuli.
Aversive learning = a form of conditioning where an aversion is created toward a targeted behaviour or item by pairing it with an unpleasant stimulus.
Thalamic gate = the thalamus filters sensory information. All sensory inputs go through the thalamus except for olfaction (sense of smell).
Peaks & Troughs = the highest and lowest points of oscillations. In this case, of the brain waves during Slow Wave Sleep.
Tag = a marker that can be attached to some kind of information indicating that it has a special status (e.g. it may be more strongly replayed or consolidated)
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16 Oct 2020
Episode 6: Dan Margoliash & Tim Brawn: How sleep helps birds to learn their songs
01:18:30
In this episode we take a neuroethological approach to sleep, and discover why songbirds are such a good model system for studying sleep's role in learning. These include advantages like songbirds' sleep-wake patterns and sleep architecture being more similar to human's than rodents', the fact that songbirds are strongly motivated to learn their songs, which can then be easily assessed for accuracy, and the observation that population-level neuronal replay in the song system is often very easy to identify, since patterns of neural firing during replay can actually sound like the songs. We're led through this fascinating topic by Professor Dan Margoliash and Dr Tim Brawn, whose work in Zebrafinches and Starlings has revealed valuable insights into perceptual, declarative and procedural learning, as well as how reconsolidation works, and into why interference learning may sometimes even be useful.
If you'd like to find out more about their work you can find links to their research pages and to some key studies referenced in the episode below:
Finger-tapping task = explicitly learning a numeric sequence and typing it as fast and accurately as possible with your non-dominant hand. For instance, you might be asked to type the sequence 4-1-3-2-4 repeatedly while the sequence is displayed on a screen. This primarily tests procedural learning rather than working memory.
Interference = one memory hindering the retrieval of another, e.g. because both memories have overlapping retrieval cues.
Neuronal bursting = periods of multiple action potentials clustered together, which are then followed by extended silent periods.
Reconsolidation = refers to how recalling memories returns them to a labile state, meaning they then need to be re-stabilized to commit them back to long term memory. New learning that takes place before this happens can be used to update the original memory.
Song motif = the individual phrases that make up the song. They are themselves constructed from syllables.
Song stereotypy = refers to a bird's song being repeated with great consistency once learned.
Song system = the discrete set of brain areas that controls song learning and production.
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08 Nov 2020
Episode 7: Björn Rasch -Targeted Memory Reactivation
01:00:39
In this episode, we talk to Professor Björn Rasch about the pioneering of a process called Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR).
TMR is a tool which can be used to selectively consolidate learnt material during sleep by pairing it with sensory stimuli such as odours or sounds during learning. This process can be used to manipulate memories during sleep and improve memory consolidation. We also discuss how TMR can interfere with consolidation and consider the pros and cons of this technique as a tool for memory manipulation.
We then go on to discuss some of Björn's other work, including how sleep can amplify the positive impacts of therapy, and how this process can be used help overcome problems like arachnophobia.
If you'd like to find out more about Björn's work you can find a link to his research page and to some key studies referenced in this episode below:
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24 Nov 2020
Episode 8: Daniel Bendor: Memory Replay and Consolidation in Rodents
01:06:14
In this episode, we talk to Dr Daniel Bendor from University College London. Daniel's work focuses on rodent studies of place cells in the hippocampus.
We discuss the phenomena of memory replay in which place cell activity mimics patterns of activity that occurred while the rodent was performing a task in wake. We also discuss how this process can be manipulated using targeted memory reactivation (TMR).
From this we discuss how the TMR instead of triggering a reactivation of a memory could instead be biasing the brain to replay the memory which is cued.
We go on to talk about the relationship between the cortex and hippocampus and discuss theories on the hippocampus training the cortex in putting together components of memories and how this dialogue may take place.
Throughout the episode, we discuss rodents as sleep models and the positives and limitations of using them compared to human/primate models.
Finally, we discuss links between TMR and brain washing and the possible worries this may cause.
If you'd like to find out more about Daniel's work you can find a link to his university research profile. Some key studies referenced in this episode below:
Replay and TMR: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982219310358
Enhance, Delete and Incept: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4058530/
Mapping the future: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364661316000218
Glossary of terms from the podcast
Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR) = the process of pairing sensory cues with learnt information to improve memory consolidation during sleep
Place cells = neurons in the hippocampus which fire when an animal is in a specific location, known as a place field.
Ground Truth = is empirical evidence or information collected from direct observation
Pattern Separation = The differentiation of similar, overlapping neuronal activity into distinct, non-overlapping groups
Sharp Wave Ripples = waves seen in the hippocampus during sleep and rest
Engram = a neuronal representation for the existence of a memory
Type 1 error = known as a false positive , when a true hypothesis is rejected
Type 2 error = known as a false negative, when a false hypothesis is accepted
Spike-timing Dependent Plasticity = the effect where the timing of neuronal spikes modifies a synapse in terms of magnitude and direction
Optogenetics = the process of modifying neurons so they can be activated and controlled directly by light
If you have any questions about this episode, any of other episodes or the topics we discuss, please let us know via our email sleepsciencepodcast@gmail.com or contact us through our social media @SleepSciencePodcast
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13 Dec 2020
Episode 9: Michelle Carr and Karen Konkoly - What is lucid dreaming and how can it help us?
00:40:39
Have you ever wished you could control your dreams? In this episode we learn about new approaches letting people do exactly that. We also delve into important benefits lucid dreaming could have, such as helping reduce nightmares or helping process traumatic memories. In addition, we explore how lucid dreams provide a window into understanding consciousness and people's inner worlds, and touch on the symbolism often found in dreams.
This episode was produced by: Dominic Carr
If you'd like to find out more about the guests featured in this episode or want to read up on their lucid dream induction study feel free to follow the links below:
This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.
22 Dec 2020
Episode 10: Christmas Q&A session
00:23:29
Today's episode is a little bit different. We're marking the end of our first season by roping in the rest of the NaPS lab to answer listeners' sleep-related questions. Thanks to everyone who sent questions in!
List of questions:
Why do we use the term ‘sleeping like a baby’ when babies don’t, in fact, sleep? - From Jaime Jenkins
How do hormones affect sleep? - From Beth Lee
Why do some people talk in their sleep? – From Christopher Reynolds
Can meditation before bed help you have deeper sleep? - From Lauren Finaldi
Why do we need to cycle through different sleep states multiple times per night i.e why isn’t it half the night slow wave sleep and half the night of REM sleep? – from Laura Bojarskaite
How come we remember dreams some nights and other nights nothing at all? - From Suzie Saad
Is an eye mask effective for better sleep? - From Lauren Finaldi
What exactly is happening during sleep paralysis and why does this happen sometimes? - From Brittany McCabe
Do animals dream? - From Veronica Campe
Are all of your senses still activated in sleep? - From Naasiha Kolia
Can you fall asleep faster when you listen to white noise before bed? - From John Nicol
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24 May 2021
S2E2: Tore Nielsen & Mark Blagrove - Part 1 - What we dream and why we need to
00:45:59
In this episode, we talk to Professor Tore Nielsen from the University of Montreal and Professor Mark Blagrove from Swansea University.
In part 1 of this two part episode, we talk about how both our guests became interested in the world of sleep and dreams and then discuss what we actually dream about, from emotional REM dreams to non-rem dreams. We also talk about the different methods of collecting dream reports and the positives and negatives of these methods.
We go on to discuss Tore's fear extinction theory of nightmares, which proposes we dream about our fears in order to make them less frightening. We also explore the sensitivity theory which suggests more sensitive people have more nightmares when they are stressed.
If you would like to find out more about either Tore's or Mark's work, you can find the links to the pages below. Tore's page here and Mark's page here .
Lucid Dreaming - This is a type of dreaming where the dreamer is aware they are dreaming. The dreamer in some cases can have control over the dream content.
Metacognition - Where one is aware of their own thinking and thoughts.
Alexithymia - Term used to describe difficulty in describing one's own emotions and feelings.
****If you think we need to add a term or two here, please let us know****.
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27 May 2021
S2E1:Tristan Bekinschtein - The Consciousness Boundary
00:54:58
In this episode, we talk to Dr Tristan Bekinschtein from the Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab and discuss his research looking into the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness.
We talk about his work in the loss of consciousness in vegetative state patients, sedation and sleep and his findings regarding brain markers which indicate when we change between these two states. We also discuss his research showing that people tend to neglect the left side of the world as they fall asleep and why this might be. We also talk about Tristan's other work in resilience and what makes our mind resilience to stressors such as poverty.
If you'd like to find out more about Tristan's work you can find a link to his research page here and a link to the Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab page here.
Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:
P300 - Measured by electroencephalogram, this is a term for a spike response, occurring 300ms after an intended stimuli which is usually focused on by the participant.
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07 Jul 2021
S2E3 - Tore Nielsen & Mark Blagrove - Lucid Dreaming & the 'Dream-lag' effect
00:44:58
In this episode, we talk to Professor Tore Nielsen from the University of Montreal and Professor Mark Blagrove from Swansea University.
In part 2 of this two part episode, we carry on our discussion about nightmares and talk about Tore's work on imagery rehearsal. A process where the dreamer rehearses their nightmares finding solutions to them in waking life in order to reduce stress and anxiety around nightmares and find more control in their dream life.
Then we move on to lucid dreaming and how this differs from imagery rehearsal. We take a look at Mark's work on how lucid dreamers have more control in their waking life and go on to discuss the possibly positive and negative effects lucid dreams may have on our REM dreams.
Finally, we discuss work from both guests on the dream-lag effect. This phenomenon, first discovered by Tore, occurs when life events are incorporated into dreams the night after the event and also 5-7 days after, but not in between. We discuss how the dream-lag effect was discovered and how it only appears to happen in REM dreams. We also discuss what this may means biologically and what impact it may have on memory consolidation.
We hope you enjoy this episode!
If you haven't already listened to it, part 1 of this episode is available on all podcast platforms.
If you would like to find out more about either Tore's or Mark's work, check out the links below. Tore's page here and Mark's page here .
Lucid Dreaming - This is a type of dreaming where the dreamer is aware they are dreaming. The dreamer in some cases can have control over the dream content.
Metacognition - Where one is aware of their own thinking and thoughts.
Idiopathic - A disease or condition which seems to have no known cause or appears spontaneously.
Dream-lag effect - A phenomena where life events are incorporated into dreams the night after the event and also 6-7 days after, but not in between.
****If you think we need to add a term or two here, please let us know****.
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15 Jul 2021
S2E4 Colin Espie – What is insomnia and how can we treat it?
00:50:05
In this episode, we interviewed Colin Espie, one of the world’s leading authorities on sleep and insomnia. Colin is Professor in Sleep Medicine at the University of Oxford, and Clinical Director of the Experimental & Clinical Sleep Medicine Programme, Sleep & Circadian Neurosciences Institute, again at the University of Oxford.
Professor Espie talks about sleep problems, explains why actively focusing on getting more sleep is not the best way to combat these issues. He also argues that behavioural approaches are much more effective even though clinicians tend to prescribe medicine by default. He has solid plans for changing the treatment of insomnia in the future and has already made a flying start eleven years ago by launching Sleepio, the online sleep clinic. Find out more about how Sleepio works and how can you register today by listening to this episode.
If you would like to have a look at the Sleepio website, you can do it by clicking here. You can also click here to find out more about Prof. Espie and read through recent publications mentioned in this podcast.
A new edition of Prof. Espie's book Overcoming Insomnia: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques, published by Little Brown Book Group will be released in late September.
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Glossary
· Hypermetabolised (brain) = having an elevated energy expenditure
· Hyperarousal = abnormal state of increased responsiveness to stimuli
· Chronotype = one’s natural inclination to sleep and be active at certain times of the day
· CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) = form of therapy aimed to improve mental health mainly through emotional regulation and developing coping mechanisms
· Sleep Restriction Therapy = a CBT therapy that works to decrease variability in the timing of sleep while increasing the depth of sleep
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01 Sep 2021
S2E6 Wenbiao Gan - The role of sleep in synapse formation and elimination
00:42:04
In this episode, we talk to Professor Wenbiao Gan from the Neuroscience and Physiology and Skirball Institute at New York University School of Medicine.
Professor Gan tells us about how he started to become interested in studying sleep and its impact on learning and memory.
He talks about intriguing and hands-on ways to assess the formation and elimination of dendritic spines in the mouse cortex, and how different experimental tasks like running backwards on a treadmill influence spine formation with or without sleep. Some counterintuitive results are presented and Professor Gan also shares his perspective on the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis.
In the end, Professor Gan gives some thoughts about the future of sleep research and suggests new methods of improvement in the area.
If you would like to find out more, here is a link to Professor Gan's full list of publications:
(synaptic) pruning = a natural phase in the development of the nervous system during which connections between neurons that are no longer needed die off
dendrites = tree-like extensions of the neuron
dendritic spines = extensions of a dendrite that help receive information from other neurons
synaptic homeostasis = the idea that neural synapses cannot keep strengthening forever. Instead, they must also downscale at some point in order to make space for further strengthening. Such downscaling can be done in a relative manner that preserves information coded by the synapses in question.
Episode produced by Bianca Strete and Sophie Smith
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13 Sep 2021
S2E5 - Manuel Schabus & Kerstin Hoedlmoser - How babies sleep and what this means for their cognitive function
00:44:43
In this episode we talk to Professor Manuel Schabus and Professor Kerstin Hoedlmoser from the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Salzburg.
In this episode, we discuss their work on the development of sleep-in babies, first discussing what baby sleep is like and how it differs from older children and adults in regard to activity and sleep stages and specifically sleep spindles and why we think this is. We also look at the difficulties of recording sleep in babies and what other methods are used to analyse and assess baby sleep.
We then look in depth at the development on sleep spindles in babies and go on to discuss the difference between fast and slow spindles and their hypothesised importance in connection with memory consolidation and learning.
We also discuss the importance of coupling activity and synchrony in the brain, specifically sleep spindles and slow oscillations and how these synchronise as we grow and develop and why this synchrony is important for memory and cognitive function.
If you'd like to find out more about Manuel's work you can find a link to his research page here and a link to Kerstin's research page here.
Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:
Sleep Spindle - These are a burst of neural activity which usually occur during stage 2 non-REM sleep.
(Synaptic) Pruning - The natural removal of extra synaptic connections between neurons which occurs between childhood and adulthood.
Declarative learning - A type of learning about knowledge which we can talk about e.g dates, facts, events. Episodic memory and semantic memory are types of declarative learning.
Alpha Activity - A pattern of electric actvity in the brain, alpha activity predominately occurs during rest with a frequency between 9-11Hz.
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Episode produced by Sophie Smith & Bianca Strete
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In this episode, we interviewed Professor Reto Huber, who leads a research group at the University Children’s Hospital, Zurich. Reto’s interests encompass sleep disorders, development, synaptic plasticity and regeneration.
In this episode we discuss local sleep, a process whereby different parts of the brain express different depths of sleep or wake at different times. We consider the relationship of local sleep to phenomena such as sleep walking and sleep talking, and Reto explains a series of experiments exploring how local sleep relates to learning.
We then consider the use of drosophila as a model to study sleep and the sleep homeostasis hypothesis before switching topic to discuss the developing brain and sleep. Reto explains some important experiments linking sleep to plasticity. We discuss the differences in slow wave activity throughout development, and how the activity corresponds to experience dependent plasticity. We then consider a potential link to childhood conditions such as ADHD.
Finally, Reto explains closed loop auditory stimulation and some recent findings relating to local sleep and learning. We end the episode by exploring the potential use of the technique in clinical settings.
If you would like to read more on Reto's work, you can find a link to his publications here.
Glossary:
Local Sleep - A phenomenon in which different parts of the brain experience different depths of sleep or wake at different times.
Sleep Homeostasis- The optimal balancing of sleep and wake driven by sleep pressure and our circadian rhythms
Synaptic Homeostasis- Renormalising of overall synaptic strength to restore cellular homeostasis, prevent saturation and allow further memory formation following a day of learning
ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Closed Loop Auditory Stimulation- A method designed to enhance slow wave activity during sleep through auditory stimuli
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Episode produced by Vanessa Hyde & Sophie Smith
This recording is property of the sleep science podcast and not for resale
This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.
13 Jan 2022
S2E8 - Chiara Cirelli - Synaptic Homeostasis in Sleep
00:55:28
In this episode, we talk with Professor Chiara Cirelli from the department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin.
We begin by hearing about how she first got interested in sleep research, and particularly about her time as a medical student at the University of Pisa where she worked on the noradrenergic system using cat models. We then look at the importance of using cross-species models in sleep research with flies, mice, rats and humans. We also discuss the different ways of using these animal models and the different advantages they offer for sleep research.
We then move on to Chiara's Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis. This hypothesis has been supported by data from a wide range of species, and suggests that an important function of sleep is to downscale synapses. During the day, brain connections (or synapses) relating to information we have learned get strengthened. This can result in a kind of neural saturation, whereby there is no space for more synapses. The Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis proposes that these synapses are downscaled during sleep, bringing about a form of homeostasis that allows us to repeatedly strengthen synapses during wake and downscale during sleep.
We also take a look at different ways of measuring synaptic growth across species such as molecular studies, structural or electrophysiological studies and the current difficulties in following synapses over long periods of time.
Finally, we look at Chiara's most recent finding which shows synapses associated with new learning are protected from downscaling during sleep. Instead, her latest data show that it is the background noise that is reduced during sleep, allowing for an increase in signal to noise ratio.
We hope you enjoy the episode and please find more information below.
Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:
If you would like to find more information of Chiara's work, you can find a link to her research page here. Glossary of terms Synaptic Homeostasis - Renormalistion of overall synaptic strength to restore cellular homeostasis, preventing saturation and allowing further memory formation following a day of learning
ATP 'cost' - ATP is our source of energy for everything that we do. An ATP 'cost' would refer to how much cellular energy something would use.
Declarative learning - Learning about knowledge which we can talk about e.g dates, facts, events.
Drosophila - a genus of flies, commonly referred to as fruit flies, which are used regularly in scientific research. Smart down selection - A process of selectively protecting synapses which need to be kept during downscaling. Phosphorylation - Process of adding a phosphoryl group to a molecule. Phosphorylation can help regulate cell signals or protein development often acting as a way of 'labeling' cells. Noradrenergic System - A neurotransmitter system within our nervous system that is often associated with alertness or arousal.
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