Our research
Sleeping and waking
Why do we need to sleep? We believe that the key to answering this question will come from understanding the links between sleep’s unique brain activity patterns and changes in neural connectivity. To study this, we follow the activity of individual neurons across cycles of awake behaviour and sleep. The first projects in the lab will examine how a neuron “decides” which pattern(s) of sleep activity to enter into, how participation in a given sleep activity pattern affects that neuron’s connectivity within the network, and how these changes influence and refine neural computation, brain energy use, and behaviour, allowing us to wake up each morning with a brain that is more optimised for our environment than the day before.
Recording from neurons
To record neural activity, we use high density silicon probes, in acute and chronic preparations. We employ optogenetic techniques, along with in vivo and in vitro patch clamping to investigate synaptic connectivity, and calculate changes in brain energy use. In vivo vigilance states are measured using implanted ECoG and EMG electrodes, along with LFP recordings.
Sense of smell
Our work is largely carried out in the olfactory system. Mice naturally rely on their sense of smell to detect food sources, locate potential mates, recognise predators and navigate their environment. We can therefore design increasingly complex learning tasks, while maintaining the ability to precisely monitor and control the neurons involved. We use a combination of quick-learning tasks with intermittent nap-breaks, and slow-learning tasks that require multiple days of experience with intervening periods of sleep.
When sleep goes wrong… we collaborate
In addition to investigating how normal sleep impacts the healthy brain, we want to understand what happens when sleep goes wrong. We are beginning to explore this in the context of the sleep disruption that accompanies early maternity (with Jonny Kohl, Crick Institute) and in the case of disease-related sleeping problems: Multiple Sclerosis (with Nicola Hamilton-Whittaker, King’s Wolfson Institute); and Alzheimer’s Disease (with Lorena Arancibia-Carcamo, Crick Institute and UKRI). We also collaborate with computational neuroscientists (especially Sadra Sadeh, Imperial College London).