Speaker: Luis de Lecea, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine

Time: 14:00 – 16:00 p.m., Sep 5, 2024, GMT+8

Venue: Rm. B101, Lui Che-woo Building, PKU

Abstract: 

I will show how the use of optogenetics and circuit mapping methods have transformed our understanding of the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. I will show how these methods are also providing insight into the mechanisms of sleep disorders throughout lifespan. A second approach in our laboratory is based on the hypothesis that DNA repair is a cellular function of sleep. We will show evidence indicating that DNA damage accumulates at different rates during wakefulness in different cortical cell types and DNA repair increases during sleep.
Our laboratory is developing ultrasound as a new approach to sleep intervention in mouse models. We have developed a new method to screen and optimize parameter conditions of fUS-mediated cell type specific modulation of neuronal activity in arousal circuits, with significant effects on sleep architecture. The results from these experiments pave the way towards non-invasive modulation of sleep/wake states in humans.

Source: Center for Life Sciences, PKU