Probing the Interactions Between Sleep and Learning

探究睡眠与学习之间的相互作用

• 批准号: 8001574
• 负责人: Christopher George Lorenz Vecsey
• 金额: $ 4.76万
• 依托单位: BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2013-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8001574
• 关键词: Address; Age; Aging; Animals; Biological Models; Brain; Cells; Circadian Rhythms; Drosophila genus; Drosophila melanogaster; Goals; Lateral; Learning; Life Style; Link; Mediating; Memory; Mental disorders; Molecular; Nature; Neurons; Neurosciences Research; Neurotransmitters; Organism; Peptides; Play; Public Health; Research; Role; Shift-Work Sleep Disorder; Signal Transduction; Sleep; Sleep Deprivation; Sleep disturbances; Societies; System; experience; genetic manipulation; public health relevance; response; sleep regulation

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Interactions between sleep and learning in Drosophila melanogaster: what is the role of PDF target neurons? Understanding the nature and purpose of sleep is currently one of the major goals in neuroscience research. It is clear that sleep is regulated by a combination of circadian and homeostatic systems, and that sleep and memory formation are tightly linked. However, it remains unclear what mechanisms at the circuit and molecular levels mediate these interactions. In the studies proposed here, the powerful Drosophila model system will be used to tackle these issues. It has recently been shown that a cluster of cells once thought to be purely part of the circadian system also play a role in homeostatic sleep regulation. These are the ventral lateral neurons (LNvs), which produce the peptide neurotransmitter PDF. However, it is unknown what the crucial targets of these cells are, or if they are involved in signaling that an organism needs additional sleep following sleep deprivation or learning. By combining genetic manipulations to both increase and decrease the excitability of LNv target cells with cutting edge electrophysiological recordings, this research will expand our understanding of the circuit- and molecular-level strategies that animals use to modulate sleep and memory formation. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in today's society, resulting from shift work, sleep disorders, aging, psychiatric disorders, or simply from an extremely busy lifestyle. Understanding what strategies the brain uses to regulate the amount and quality of sleep that an animal obtains is therefore of urgent importance from a public health standpoint. The proposed research will address this issue by examining the mechanisms used to regulate sleep in response to sleep deprivation and learning experiences.

描述（由申请人提供）：黑腹果蝇睡眠和学习之间的相互作用：PDF靶神经元的作用是什么？了解睡眠的性质和目的是目前神经科学研究的主要目标之一。很明显，睡眠是由昼夜节律和自我平衡系统共同调节的，睡眠和记忆的形成是紧密相连的。然而，目前还不清楚在电路和分子水平上介导这些相互作用的机制。在这里提出的研究中，强大的果蝇模型系统将用于解决这些问题。最近的研究表明，曾经被认为是纯粹的昼夜节律系统的一部分的一群细胞也在稳态睡眠调节中发挥作用。这些是腹侧神经元（LNvs），产生肽神经递质PDF。然而，目前还不清楚这些细胞的关键目标是什么，或者它们是否参与了生物体在睡眠剥夺或学习后需要额外睡眠的信号。通过将遗传操作与尖端的电生理记录相结合来增加和降低LNv靶细胞的兴奋性，这项研究将扩大我们对动物用于调节睡眠和记忆形成的电路和分子水平策略的理解。 公共卫生关系：睡眠障碍在当今社会非常普遍，这是由于轮班工作、睡眠障碍、衰老、精神障碍或仅仅是由于极其忙碌的生活方式造成的。因此，从公共卫生的角度来看，了解大脑使用什么策略来调节动物获得的睡眠量和质量是非常重要的。拟议的研究将通过检查用于调节睡眠以应对睡眠剥夺和学习经验的机制来解决这个问题。