Award details

Brain State Control

Reference	BB/E00511X/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Hugh Piggins
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Professor Denis Burdakov, Dr John Gigg
Institution	The University of Manchester
Department	Life Sciences
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	669,941
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	08/01/2007
End date	07/01/2010
Duration	36 months

Abstract

Determining how neural circuits interact in the timed switching of brain and behavioural states is a key problem in neuroscience. We know that the circadian system is important near 24h organization of brain and behaviour and that orexin neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (LHA) are key components of a neural system vital for promoting arousal, but little is known about how these brain systems interact. Here we use techniques and models that have been highly successful in the study of circadian clocks and orexin neurons respectively and combine them to identify the mechanisms by which LHA/orexin signalling alters cellular activity in key structures of the brain's circadian system, determine whether targeted impairment of orexin signalling affects circadian function and if so, how this comes about, and finally determine how signals from the circadian system affect LHA/orexin neuronal activity. These investigations will provide unique insights into the bases for brain state control.

Summary

Everyday a clock in your brain instructs a switchboard to the tell rest of the brain and body that it is time to arouse from the night's slumber. Without this wake-up call or the switchboard operator, you cannot function properly and fall asleep at the wrong times of the day. Recently, we found that messages from switchboard operator can reset this daily alarm clock, and while we have identified some of the words, we do not yet fully comprehend the language of this operator. In our research we are seeking to understand how the switchboard operator and the daily clock converse to communicate the wake-up call throughout the brain.

Committee	Closed Committee - Animal Sciences (AS)
Research Topics	Neuroscience and Behaviour
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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