In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Niels Niethard from the University of Tübingen to explore what sleep looks like at the level of cortical microcircuits — and how excitation and inhibition are dynamically reconfigured across brain states. Niels walks us through how excitatory pyramidal neurons interact with distinct inhibitory interneuron populations, including somatostatin (SST) and parvalbumin (PV) cells. We discuss how these cell-type-specific interactions shift from wakefulness to non...
We've gathered the NaPS lab to answer all your fascinating questions on all things sleep! A perfect bitesize episode to get stuck into the marvellous world of sleep. 1. How does sleep deprivation affect mental health? - Answered by Martha Wawrzuta Bunney, B. G. , Bunney, W. E. (2013). Mechanisms of Rapid Antidepressant Effects of Sleep Deprivation Therapy: Clock Genes and Circadian Rhythms. Biological PsychiatryFang, H., Tu, S., Sheng, J., Shao, A. (2018). Depression in sleep distu...
In this episode, we welcome neuroscientist Michele Bellesi from the University of Camerino to explore the fascinating world of glial cells and their dynamic role in sleep. Michele guides us through the four types of glial cells: Astrocytes: Regulators of synaptic function and help form the blood brain barrier (BBB)Oligodendrocytes: Crucial for myelination and fast signal transmissionMicroglia: The brain's immune sentinels, important for responding to infection and injury as well as shap...
Can sleep help us unlearn biases and make our memories more positive? Implicit biases are unconscious stereotypes that influence our judgments and decisions - like assuming a particular gender for a specific job role. But what if we could change these biases? In this episode, we explore how manipulations of sleep might help reshape our implicit attitudes. We speak with Professor Xiaoqing Hu, a leading researcher in the use of Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR) during sleep to alter implicit b...
We're joined by Hongi Ngo, who developed a revolutionary technique for manipulating sleep oscillations during his PhD. Closed-loop Auditory Stimulation (CLAS), which uses bursts of pink noise which are carefully timed to a particular phase of an existing brain oscillation to either boost or dampen the target oscillation. It has been used to selectively strengthen or weaken memories, improve the immune response, reduce epileptic seizures, and even potentially to slow down age relat...