FRIPRO-Fri prosjektstøtte

Søvn er som mat eller vann: går vi for lenge uten kan vi dø. Likevel sover vi mindre og mindre. Våre barn er blant de mest sårbare ofrene for denne epidemien. Leger rapporterer om en dramatisk økning i antall barn som sover dårlig eller har søvnforstyrrelser. Kronisk søvndeprivasjon er potensielt en tikkende bombe for et barns helse, siden det kan lede til lærevansker og psykiske helseproblemer. Selv om helsepersonell slår alarm, vet vi fortsatt ikke hva det er som skjer i hjernen under søvn som er så viktig for sunn utvikling. Jeg foreslår å finne ut dette ved å bruke nytt miniatyrregistreringsutstyr til å registrere hjerneaktivitet i unge forsøksdyr mens de sover. Jeg vil også benytte meg av de siste framskritt innenfor genetikk for å manipulere søvnen til forsøksdyrene og teste hvordan dette påvirker deres utvikling. Å endelig forstå søvnens rolle i hjernens utvikling vil være høyst relevant for helse- og utdanningspersonell, beslutningstakere og omsorgspersoner. Spesielt vil det gi nødvendig vitenskapelig bakgrunn for bedre anbefalinger om passende søvnvaner, og det vil åpne opp for nye forskningsområder for å hindre utviklingsproblemer og lærevansker.

Sleep is essential for healthy cognitive development. Recent studies report widespread chronic sleep deprivation among children. Despite this increasing public health epidemic, the role of sleep in cognitive development has mostly been studied in children by measuring the effects of sleep deprivation. Yet, such methods fail to address the underlying neural mechanisms that can only be manipulated in animals. To tackle this crucial gap in our knowledge, I have designed a bold and innovative project at the junction of neurodevelopmental biology, system neuroscience, and sleep research. The NRC-YRT scheme will grant me independent funding to establish this new research in Norway, at the transdisciplinary Institute for Basic Medical science. I propose to be hosted by Johan Storm, who successfully guided many young scientists in their transition towards independence and who owns the main equipment needed for my research. Supported by a (inter)national collaborative network, I will combine my multidisciplinary cutting-edge expertise in in vivo electrophysiology, viral tools, and mouse genetics, to detect and manipulate sleep state, as well as the emergence of state-specific network mechanisms. Specifically, I plan to test two independent hypotheses: (1)Replay during deep sleep of sequence of activity originally evoked during waking, emerges early to orchestrate developmental network reorganisation and promote cognitive development. (2)REM sleep facilitates off-line activation of neural circuits that shape synapse maintenance, and targeted early neural death. This would explain the high proportion of REMS observed in immature brains. My research has the potential for wide societal impact and excellent publications. Given this, my track record and its transdisciplinary and collaborative aspect, I will be well positioned, in the next 2 years, to secure international ERC, EMBO or HFSP starting grants and mentor a new generation of system developmental neuroscience in Norway.