Abstract

Sleep is one of the most ubiquitous, yet enigmatic needs we share. Alternating off-line (sleep) and on-line (wake) states are thought to be critical for many brain functions relying on plasticity. Recent technical advances allow us now to monitor/manipulate cellular or synaptic activity across sleep with unprecedented accuracy. This symposium will present how such advances have revealed complementary on-line and off-line processes, providing crucial insights into the regulatory mechanisms coordinating activity across wake and sleep. Specifically, we will debate how off-line and on-line coordinated processes may regulate OR be regulated by plasticity.

Professor Hiroki Ueda, whose work has been crucial to uncover regulatory sleep mechanisms, will present a paradigm changing study (Nature, 2024) using triple-target CRISPR and time-course phosphoproteomics. His team discovered how pair of kinases and phosphatases reciprocally regulate sleep at the postsynaptic density (cortex/hippocampus).

Dr. Julia Harris will present unpublished data continuing her exciting work on the plasticity of piriform cortex odour codes across wake/sleep (Nature, 2021). She combines neuropixel, optogenetics, and patch clamp to track synaptic connectivity across states and reveal how offline neuronal processes can shape awake behaviour.

Professor Mayank Mehta will delineate his unique theory-experiment hybrid approach (Nat.Comm, 2024) to uncover how cortico-entorhinal dialogues generate spontaneous activity and inactivity during up and down states. His work provides insight into the functional connectivity of large networks and their dynamics across sleep.