Sleep Science Podcast

How does our sleep change as we age and what could this mean for memory and cognition?

In this episode, we discuss with Professor Rebecca Spencer her research  exploring how our sleep patterns evolve over the course of our lives. 

We explore the phenomenon of infantile amnesia - why we can't remember our earliest childhood experiences - and unpack the theories behind it. We discuss how hippocampal development changes as we age and how this links to memory consolidation and sleep. We also dive into Rebecca's work on emotional processing in children and how naps and sleeping are able to aid in emotional regulation. 

Rebecca runs the Somneuro Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Find out more about Rebecca and her research group here.

Links to studies in the episode:

• Napping reduces emotional attention bias during early childhood
• Unhealthy diet is associated with poor sleep in preschool-aged children
• Television use and its effects on sleep in early childhood

Host: Professor Penny Lewis

Editor: Sophie Smith

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this deep dive episode, we look at how sleep onset can help creativity. 

With our amazing guest speakers, Professor Bob Stickgold, Dr Adam Horowitz, Professor Delphine Oudiette and Dr Celia Lacaux, we take a look at their work on creativity, dreams and N1 sleep. 

Together, we discuss different definitions of creativity, what defines N1 and what it is about N1 that makes it prime time for creative processing. 

Find out more about our guest speakers:

• Professor Bob Stickgold
• Dr Adam Horowitz
• Professor Delphine Oudiette
• Dr Celia Lacaux

Papers from the episode:

• Sleep onset is a creative sweetspot 
• Replaying the Game: Hypnagogic Images in Normals and Amnesics
• Dormio: A targeted dream incubation device

Host: Professor Penny Lewis
Editor: Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

Sleepwalking, sleep talking, night terrors - how do they occur and why do some people have them more than others?

Join us as we discuss with Professor Francesca Siclari her work looking at non-REM parasomnias and the link to dreaming. We discuss the various forms that non-REM parasomnias can take, how they differ between adults and children and what the potential consequences of them can be. 

Find out more about Francesca and her research group here.
Here are links to some of the studies:

• Conscious experiences during non-REM parasomnias
• Shared EEG correlates between non-REM parasomnia experiences and dreams
• Consciousness in non-REM-parasomnia episodes 

Host: Professor Penny Lewis
Producer & Editor: Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

To kickstart season 3 of the Sleep Science Podcast, we have the lab behind the podcast, NaPS Lab, to answer some great sleep-related questions from our listeners. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions!
Want to find out more about the team and the lab? Check out our website here.

1. What is lucid dreaming? - Answered by Mo Abdellahi

• Lucid dreaming - Stephen LaBerge, 2009
• Induction of self awareness in dreams through frontal low current stimulation of gamma activity 
• Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep 

2. Do dreams do anything for us? - Answered by Kyrillos Meshreky

• The brain as a dream state generator: an activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process 
• Converging theories on dreaming: Between Freud, predictive processing, and psychedelic research 
• Predictive coding under the free-energy principle

3. What types of memory does sleep help you consolidate? - Answered by Yan Wang

• The whats and whens of sleep-dependent memory consolidation
• The role of Sleep in declarative memory consolidation - direct evidence by intracranial EEG
• Sleep, Memory, and Plasticity

4. How does sleep change as you age? - Answered by Megan Wadon

• Sleep across the lifespan
• The architecture of early childhood sleep 
• Normal sleep in children and adolescence

5. Why do adolescences sleep longer? - Answered by Martha Nguyen

• National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations
• Sleep in Children and Adolescents with Behavioral and Emotional Disorders
• The Relations Between Sleep, Personality, Behavioral Problems, and School Performance in Adolescents 
• Sleep quality and adolescent default mode network connectivity 
• Sleep loss, learning capacity and academic performance

6. Does the menstrual cycle affect our sleep? - Answered by Marta Wawrzuta

7. How do the seasons affect our sleep? - Answered by Sophie Smith 

• Circadian entrainment to the Natural Light-Dark cycle across seasons and the weekend

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

For our end of season special, we have the rest of the NaPS lab in to answer a number of exciting sleep-related questions from our listeners. These touch on a range of different subjects from sleeps involvement in weight gain to alcohol's effect on sleep. Thanks to those who sent in questions!

List of Questions:

1.     What is it in general anaesthetic that completely prevents a patient from waking up mid-surgery? Is this a similar state to being in a deep sleep or is this different entirely?  3:43

2.    Can having daytime naps improve your memory?  5:24

3.    Can a good sleep schedule help you lose weight?  6:40

4.    Why do people tend to have a deeper sleep after drinking alcohol?   8:26

5.   Can a lack of sleep really impact the way your brain works long term?  11:24

6.   Why do children with ASD struggle to fall asleep and maintain sleep?  12:54

7.   How does loud snoring or sleep talking wake up other people but not manage to wake up the person themselves?  16:13

8.  How does drinking lots of caffeinated drinks affect our sleep wake cycle?  19:17

9.   How does hibernation differ from a normal sleep in some animals?   21:05

10.  When people say the term “just sleep on it” after a row or an emotional experience, is there any truth in this? Does sleep help you process emotions?   23:24

11.  How much is sleep deprivation related to our immunity?  25:05


This episode was produced by Bella Mills-Smith 

This recording is property of the sleep science podcast and not for resale

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode, we talk with Professor Chiara Cirelli from the department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin.

We begin by hearing about how she first got interested in sleep research, and particularly about her time as a medical student at the University of Pisa where she worked on the noradrenergic system using cat models. We then look at the importance of using cross-species models in sleep research with flies, mice, rats and humans. We also discuss the different ways of using these animal models and the different advantages they offer for sleep research.

We then move on to Chiara's Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis. This hypothesis has been supported by data from a wide range of species, and suggests that an important function of sleep is to downscale synapses. During the day, brain connections (or synapses) relating to information we have learned get strengthened.  This can result in a kind of neural saturation, whereby there is no space for more synapses. The Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis proposes that these synapses are downscaled during sleep, bringing about a form of homeostasis that allows us to repeatedly strengthen synapses during wake and downscale during sleep.

We also take a look at different ways of measuring synaptic growth across species such as molecular studies, structural or electrophysiological studies and the current difficulties in following synapses over long periods of time.

Finally, we look at Chiara's most recent finding which shows synapses associated with new learning are protected from downscaling during sleep.  Instead, her latest data show that it is the background noise that is reduced during sleep, allowing for an increase in signal to noise ratio.

We hope you enjoy the episode and please find more information below. 

Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:

• Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis 
• Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis in Memory Consolidation 
• Downscaling 

If you would like to find more information of Chiara's work, you can find a link to her research page here.

Glossary of terms
Synaptic Homeostasis  - Renormalistion of overall synaptic strength to restore cellular homeostasis, preventing saturation and allowing further memory formation following a day of learning  

ATP 'cost' - ATP is our source of energy for everything that we do. An ATP 'cost' would refer to how much cellular energy something would use.

Declarative learning - Learning about knowledge which we can talk about e.g dates, facts, events.  

Drosophila - a genus of flies, commonly referred to as fruit flies, which are used regularly in scientific research.

Smart down selection - A process of selectively protecting synapses which need to be kept during downscaling.

Phosphorylation - Process of adding a phosphoryl group to a molecule. Phosphorylation can help regulate cell signals or protein development often acting as a way of 'labeling' cells.

Noradrenergic System - A neurotransmitter system within our nervous system that is often associated with alertness or arousal.

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Episode produced by Sophie Smith

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode, we interviewed Professor Reto Huber, who leads a research group at the University Children’s Hospital, Zurich. Reto’s interests encompass sleep disorders, development, synaptic plasticity and regeneration. 

In this episode we discuss local sleep, a process whereby different parts of the brain express different depths of sleep or wake at different times. We consider the relationship of local sleep to phenomena such as sleep walking and sleep talking, and Reto explains a series of experiments exploring how local sleep relates to learning. 

We then consider the use of drosophila as a model to study sleep and the sleep homeostasis hypothesis before switching topic to discuss the developing brain and sleep. Reto explains some important experiments linking sleep to plasticity. We discuss the differences in slow wave activity throughout development, and how the activity corresponds to experience dependent plasticity. We then consider a potential link to childhood conditions such as ADHD. 

Finally, Reto explains closed loop auditory stimulation and some recent findings relating to local sleep and learning. We end the episode by exploring the potential use of the technique in clinical settings.

If you would like to read more on Reto's work, you can find a link to his publications here.

Glossary:

Local Sleep - A phenomenon in which different parts of the brain experience different depths of sleep or wake at different times.

Sleep Homeostasis- The optimal balancing of sleep and wake driven by sleep pressure and our circadian rhythms

Synaptic Homeostasis- Renormalising of overall synaptic strength to restore cellular homeostasis, prevent saturation and allow further memory formation following a day of learning 

ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Closed Loop Auditory Stimulation- A method designed to enhance slow wave activity during sleep through auditory stimuli

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Episode produced by Vanessa Hyde & Sophie Smith

This recording is property of the sleep science podcast and not for resale

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode we talk to  Professor Manuel Schabus  and Professor Kerstin Hoedlmoser from the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Salzburg. 

In this episode, we discuss their work on the development of sleep-in babies, first discussing what baby sleep is like and how it differs from older children and adults in regard to activity and sleep stages and specifically sleep spindles and why we think this is. We also look at the difficulties of recording sleep in babies and what other methods are used to analyse and assess baby sleep. 

We then look in depth at the development on sleep spindles in babies and go on to discuss the difference between fast and slow spindles and their hypothesised importance in connection with memory consolidation and learning. 

We also discuss the importance of coupling activity and synchrony in the brain, specifically sleep spindles and slow oscillations and how these synchronise as we grow and develop and why this synchrony is important for memory and cognitive function.

 
If you'd like to find out more about Manuel's work you can find a link to his research page here and a link to Kerstin's research page here.

Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:

        o Fast and slow spindles and their connection to cognitive and memory function
        o  Coupling of slow oscillations and sleep spindles and motor learning
        o  Coupling of slow oscillations and sleep spindles and memory

Glossary of terms

Sleep Spindle  - These are a burst of neural activity which usually occur during stage 2 non-REM sleep.

(Synaptic) Pruning  - The natural removal of extra synaptic connections between neurons which occurs between childhood and adulthood.

Declarative learning - A type of learning about knowledge which we can talk about e.g dates, facts, events. Episodic memory and semantic memory are types of declarative learning.

Alpha Activity - A pattern of electric actvity in the brain, alpha activity predominately occurs during rest with a frequency between 9-11Hz.   


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Episode produced by Sophie Smith & Bianca Strete

This recording is property of the sleep science podcast and not for resale 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode, we talk to Professor Wenbiao Gan from the Neuroscience and Physiology and Skirball Institute at New York University School of Medicine.

Professor Gan tells us about how he started to become interested in studying sleep and its impact on learning and memory.

He talks about intriguing and hands-on ways to assess the formation and elimination of dendritic spines in  the mouse cortex, and how different experimental tasks like running backwards on a treadmill influence spine formation with or without sleep. Some counterintuitive results are presented and Professor Gan also shares his perspective on the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis.

In the end, Professor Gan gives some thoughts about the future of sleep research and suggests new methods of improvement in the area.

If you would like to find out more, here is a link to Professor Gan's full list of publications:

Links to  the studies mentioned in the podcast:

• REM sleep promotes experience-dependent dendritic spine elimination in the mouse cortex
• Fear extinction reverses dendritic spine formation induced by fear conditioning in the mouse auditory cortex
• REM sleep selectively prunes and maintains new synapses in development and learning
• Experience‐dependent plasticity of dendritic spines of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in the mouse cortex
• Two-photon microscopy as a tool to investigate the therapeutic time window of methylprednisolone in a mouse spinal cord injury model
• Sleep contributes to dendritic spine formation and elimination in the developing mouse somatosensory cortex

Glossary of terms 

• (synaptic) pruning = a natural phase in the development of the nervous system during which connections between neurons that are no longer needed die off
•  dendrites = tree-like extensions of the neuron
•  dendritic spines = extensions of a dendrite that help receive information from other neurons
• synaptic homeostasis = the idea that neural synapses cannot keep strengthening forever.  Instead, they must also downscale at some point in order to make space for further strengthening.  Such downscaling can be done in a relative manner that preserves information coded by the synapses in question.  

Episode produced by Bianca Strete and Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode, we interviewed Colin Espie, one of the world’s leading authorities on sleep and insomnia. Colin is Professor in Sleep Medicine at the University of Oxford, and  Clinical Director of the Experimental & Clinical Sleep Medicine Programme, Sleep & Circadian Neurosciences Institute, again at the University of Oxford.  

Professor Espie talks about sleep problems, explains why actively focusing on getting more sleep is not the best way to combat these issues.  He also argues that behavioural approaches are much more effective even though clinicians tend to prescribe medicine by default. He has solid plans for changing the treatment of insomnia in the future and has already made a flying start eleven years ago by launching Sleepio, the online sleep clinic.  Find out more about how Sleepio works and how can you register today by listening to this episode.

If you would like to have a look at the Sleepio website, you can do it by clicking here. You can also click here to find out more about Prof. Espie and read through recent publications mentioned in this podcast.

A new edition of Prof. Espie's book Overcoming Insomnia: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques, published by Little Brown Book Group will be released in late September.

This recording is property of the sleep science podcast and not for resale.

Glossary 

·       Hypermetabolised (brain) = having an elevated energy expenditure 

·       Hyperarousal = abnormal state of increased responsiveness to stimuli

·       Chronotype = one’s natural inclination to sleep and be active at certain times of the day

·       CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) = form of therapy aimed to improve mental health mainly through emotional regulation and developing coping mechanisms

·       Sleep Restriction Therapy = a CBT therapy that works to decrease variability in the timing of sleep while increasing the depth of sleep

 
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Episode produced by Bianca Strete & Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode,  we talk to Professor Tore Nielsen from the University of Montreal and Professor Mark Blagrove from Swansea University.

In part 2 of this two part episode, we carry on our discussion about nightmares and talk about Tore's work on imagery rehearsal. A process where the dreamer rehearses their nightmares finding solutions to them in waking life in order to reduce stress and anxiety around nightmares and find more control in their dream life.

Then we move on to lucid dreaming and how this differs from imagery rehearsal. We take a look at Mark's work on how lucid dreamers have more control in their waking life and go on to discuss the possibly positive and negative effects lucid dreams may have on our REM dreams.

Finally, we discuss work from both  guests on the dream-lag effect. This phenomenon, first discovered by Tore, occurs  when life events are incorporated into dreams the night after the event and also 5-7 days after, but not in between. We discuss how the dream-lag effect was discovered  and how it only appears to happen in REM dreams.  We also discuss what this may means biologically and what impact it may have on memory consolidation.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

If you haven't already listened to it, part 1 of this episode is available on all podcast platforms.

If you would like to find out more about either Tore's or Mark's work, check out the links below.   Tore's page here and Mark's page here .

Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:
       
        o Imagery Rehearsal 
        o Control in lucid dreamers
        o  Discovery of the dream-lag effect
        o  Replication of the dream-lag effect
        o  The dream lag-effect and significant personal events

Glossary of terms

Lucid Dreaming - This is a type of dreaming where the dreamer is aware they are dreaming. The dreamer in some cases can have  control over the dream content.

Metacognition - Where one is aware of their own thinking and thoughts.

Idiopathic - A disease or condition which seems to have no known cause or appears spontaneously. 

Dream-lag effect -  A phenomena  where life events are incorporated into dreams the night after the event and also 6-7 days after, but not in between. 

****If you think we need to add a term or two here, please let us know****. 

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Episode produced by Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Tristan Bekinschtein from the Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab and discuss his research looking into the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness.
 
 We talk about his work in the loss of consciousness in vegetative state patients, sedation and sleep and his findings regarding brain markers which indicate when we change between these two states. We also discuss his research showing that people tend to neglect the left side of the world as they fall asleep and why this might be. We also talk about Tristan's other work in resilience and what makes our mind resilience to stressors such as poverty.
 
 If you'd like to find out more about Tristan's work you can find a link to his research page here and a link to the Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab page here.

Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:

        o P300 marker of consciousness
        o  Neglect of the left side of the world
        o Animal or Object? Differentiation of semantic words whilst asleep 

 Glossary of terms from the podcast

 P300 - Measured by electroencephalogram, this is a term for a spike response, occurring 300ms after an intended stimuli which is usually focused on by the participant. 
 
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Episode produced by Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode,  we talk to Professor Tore Nielsen from the University of Montreal and Professor Mark Blagrove from Swansea University.

In part 1 of this two part episode, we talk about how both our guests became interested in the world of sleep and dreams  and then discuss what we actually dream about, from emotional REM dreams to non-rem dreams. We also talk about the different methods of collecting dream reports and the positives and negatives of these methods.

We go on to discuss Tore's  fear extinction theory of nightmares, which proposes we dream about our fears in order to make them less frightening. We also explore the sensitivity theory which suggests more sensitive people have more nightmares when they are stressed.

If you would like to find out more about either Tore's or Mark's work, you can find the links to the pages below.
Tore's page here and Mark's page here .

Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:
       
        o  Fear Extinction Model of Nightmares
        o  Smelling and Tasting in our dreams
        o  Emotions in our dreams
        o  Susceptibility framework

Glossary of terms 

Lucid Dreaming - This is a type of dreaming where the dreamer is aware they are dreaming. The dreamer in some cases can have  control over the dream content.

Metacognition - Where one is aware of their own thinking and thoughts.

Alexithymia - Term used to describe difficulty in describing one's own emotions and  feelings. 

****If you think we need to add a term or two here, please let us know****. 

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Episode produced by Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

Today's episode is a little bit different. We're marking the end of our first season by roping in the rest of the NaPS lab to answer listeners' sleep-related questions. Thanks to everyone who sent questions in!


List of questions:

Why do we use the term ‘sleeping like a baby’ when babies don’t, in fact, sleep?
- From Jaime Jenkins

How do hormones affect sleep?
- From Beth Lee

Why do some people talk in their sleep?
– From Christopher Reynolds

Can meditation before bed help you have deeper sleep?
- From Lauren Finaldi

Why do we need to cycle through different sleep states multiple times per night i.e why isn’t it half the night slow wave sleep and half the night of REM sleep?
– from Laura Bojarskaite

How come we remember dreams some nights and other nights nothing at all?
- From Suzie Saad

Is an eye mask effective for better sleep?
- From Lauren Finaldi

What exactly is happening during sleep paralysis and why does this happen sometimes?
- From Brittany McCabe

Do animals dream?
- From Veronica Campe

Are all of your senses still activated in sleep?
- From Naasiha Kolia

Can you fall asleep faster when you listen to white noise before bed?
- From John Nicol

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

Have you ever wished you could control your dreams? In this episode we learn about new approaches letting people do exactly that. We also delve into important benefits lucid dreaming could have, such as helping reduce nightmares or helping process traumatic memories. In addition, we explore how lucid dreams provide a window into understanding consciousness and people's inner worlds, and touch on the symbolism often found in dreams.

This episode was produced by:  Dominic Carr

If you'd like to find out more about the guests featured in this episode or want to read up on their lucid dream induction study feel free to follow the links below:

• Michelle Carr
• Karen Konkoly 
• Lucid dreaming induction study 

Glossary of terms used in the episode:

Confabulation = mistaken or unintentionally fabricated memories.

Dream sign =  something you notice in a dream that helps you realize that you're dreaming.

Dream theme = dreams tend to fall into common themes, such as dreams about being chased,  flying,  or getting lost somewhere.

Dream work = discussing your dream and perhaps re-imagining a more positive ending.

Entrainment = when your brainwaves become synchronized to another rhythmic stimulus.

EOG = electrodes placed near the eyes that detect eye movements.

Intention setting = setting an objective to fulfill while dreaming, such as asking  a dream character a specific question.

Prospective memory = remembering you need to do something in the future.

Reality checking = asking yourself if you could be dreaming.

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Daniel Bendor from University College London. Daniel's work focuses on rodent studies of place cells in the hippocampus. 

We discuss the phenomena of memory replay in which place cell activity mimics  patterns of activity that occurred while the rodent was performing a task in wake.  We also discuss how this process can be manipulated using targeted memory reactivation (TMR). 

From this we discuss how the TMR instead of triggering a reactivation of a memory could instead be biasing the brain to replay the memory which is cued. 

We go on to talk about the relationship between the cortex and hippocampus and discuss theories on the hippocampus training the cortex in putting together components  of memories and how this dialogue may take place. 

Throughout the episode, we discuss rodents as sleep models and the positives and limitations of using them compared to human/primate models.

Finally, we discuss links between TMR and brain washing and the possible worries this may cause. 

If you'd like to find out more about Daniel's work you can find a link to his university research profile.  Some key studies referenced in this episode below:

• Replay and TMR: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982219310358
• Enhance, Delete and Incept: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4058530/
• Biasing hippocampal replay: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22941111/
• Mapping the future: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364661316000218

Glossary of terms from the podcast

Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR) = the process of pairing sensory cues with learnt information to improve memory consolidation during sleep

Place cells = neurons in the hippocampus which fire when an animal is in a specific location, known as a place field.

Ground Truth = is empirical evidence or information collected from direct observation

Pattern Separation  = The differentiation of similar, overlapping neuronal activity into distinct, non-overlapping groups

Sharp Wave Ripples = waves seen in the hippocampus during sleep and rest

Engram =  a neuronal representation for the existence of  a memory

Type 1 error = known as a false positive , when a true hypothesis is rejected

Type 2 error = known as a false negative, when a false hypothesis is accepted

Spike-timing Dependent Plasticity  = the effect where the timing of neuronal spikes modifies a synapse in terms of magnitude and direction

Optogenetics = the process of modifying neurons so they can be activated and controlled directly by light



If you have any questions about this episode, any of other episodes or the topics we discuss, please let us know via our email sleepsciencepodcast@gmail.com or contact us through our social media @SleepSciencePodcast


Produced by Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode, we talk to Professor Björn Rasch about the pioneering of a process called Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR).

TMR is a tool which can be used to selectively consolidate learnt material during sleep by pairing it with sensory stimuli such as odours or sounds during learning.  This process can be used to manipulate memories during sleep and improve memory consolidation. We also discuss how TMR can interfere with consolidation and consider the pros and cons of this technique as a tool for memory manipulation.

We then go on to discuss some of Björn's other work, including how sleep can amplify the positive impacts of therapy, and how this process can be used help overcome problems like arachnophobia.

If you'd like to find out more about Björn's work you can find a link to his research page and to some key studies referenced in this episode below:

https://www3.unifr.ch/psycho/en/research/biopsy/

 Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:

         o Targeted Memory Reactivation
         o Labile or Stable
         o Auditory Feedback and Memory cueing
         o Arachnophobia

         
Glossary of terms from the podcast

Labile  =  unstable or easy to change

Pattern Separation  = The differentiation of similar, overlapping neuronal activity into distinct, non-overlapping groups

Generalisation  = grouping of similar overlapping information to a general output

Engram = a neuronal representation for the existence of  a memory

Salience = of importance

Closed Loop Auditory Stimulation  (CLAS)  = the method of using click sounds during sleep to enhance slow oscillations



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Episode produced by Penny Lewis and Sophie Smith 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode we take a neuroethological approach to sleep, and discover why songbirds are such a good model system for studying sleep's role in learning. These include advantages like songbirds' sleep-wake patterns and sleep architecture being more similar to human's than rodents', the fact that songbirds are strongly motivated to learn their songs, which can then be easily assessed for accuracy, and the observation that population-level neuronal replay in the song system is often very easy to identify, since patterns of neural firing during replay can actually sound like the songs.  We're led through this fascinating topic by Professor Dan Margoliash and Dr Tim Brawn, whose work in Zebrafinches and Starlings has revealed valuable insights into perceptual, declarative and procedural learning, as well as how reconsolidation works, and into why interference learning may sometimes even be useful.

If you'd like to find out more about their work you can find links to their research pages and to some key studies referenced in the episode below:

Here are the websites for Professor Dan Margoliash and Dr. Tim Brawn

Here are links to some of the studies mentioned in the podcast:
        o Reconsolidation & interference
        o Perceptual & interference learning
        o Tutor song selective neurons
        o Finger-tapping
        o Sleep for perceptual learning
        o Sensorimotor integration

Glossary of terms from the podcast

Finger-tapping task = explicitly learning a numeric sequence and typing it as fast and accurately as possible with your non-dominant hand. For instance, you might be asked to type the sequence 4-1-3-2-4 repeatedly while the sequence is displayed on a screen. This primarily tests procedural learning rather than working memory.

Interference = one memory hindering the retrieval of another, e.g. because both memories have overlapping retrieval cues.

Neuronal bursting = periods of multiple action potentials clustered together, which are then followed by extended silent periods.

Reconsolidation = refers to how recalling memories returns them to a labile state, meaning they then need to be re-stabilized to commit them back to long term memory. New learning that takes place before this happens can be used to update the original memory.

Song motif = the individual phrases that make up the song. They are themselves constructed from syllables.

Song stereotypy = refers to a bird's song being repeated with great consistency once learned.

Song system = the discrete set of brain areas that controls song learning and production.

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

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We humans have long wondered if it is possible to learn while we sleep but, experimental findings on this have often been disappointing. You will now be happy to learn that the tide has turned in this respect, since we now have firm proof that it IS indeed possible to learn new information while you sleep.  However - the information your brain can pick up in this manner might not exactly go as easy as you hope it would. 

In this episode, we interviewed Dr. Anat Arzi and Dr. Thomas Andrillon two of the first researchers to incontrovertibly demonstrate that the human brain can learn during sleep. They tell us about the similarities and the differences between their results and we speculate about the possible reasons behind the disparities.

Produced by:  Eniko Simo

See the web profiles of Anat and Thomas:

Publications discussed in the program:

o   Humans can learn new information during sleep; Arzi, A. et. al. Nat. Neuroscie. 2012.
o   Olfactory aversive conditioning during sleep reduces cigarette-smoking behavior; Arzi A. et. al. Journal of Neuroscience 2014.
o   Formation and suppression of acoustic memories during human sleep.  Andrillon, T. et. al. Nature Communications, 2017.
o   Sleepers Selectively Suppress Informative Inputs during Rapid Eye Movements.  Andrillon, T. et. al. Current Biology, 2020.

Glossary:

Associative learning = a learning process in which a new response becomes associated with a particular stimulus.

Perceptual learning = repeated exposure enhances the ability to discriminate between two (or more) otherwise confusable stimuli.

Aversive learning = a form of conditioning where an aversion is created toward a targeted behaviour or item by pairing it with an unpleasant stimulus. 

Thalamic gate = the thalamus filters sensory information. All sensory inputs go through the thalamus except for olfaction (sense of smell). 

Peaks & Troughs = the highest and lowest points of oscillations. In this case, of the brain waves during Slow Wave Sleep. 

Tag = a marker that can be attached to some kind of information indicating that it has a special status (e.g. it may be more strongly replayed or consolidated) 

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.

In this episode we examine how sleep differs between species to get some clues about  what sleep actually is as a phenomenon. How have marine animals solved the problem of sleeping when they regularly need to come up for air? And how do amphibians adapt their sleep architecture from life at sea to life on the land? What can mice running on their wheels tell us about what may be happening in our brains when we're performing tasks on autopilot? How do states like hibernation or torpor relate to sleep? Are sleep stages really as homogeneous as we like to think? Might even plants show some ability to learn connected to their circadian rhythms? We will find out the answers to all of these questions and more in conversation with Dr Vlad Vyazovskiy.

If you'd like to find out more about Dr Vyazovskiy's work you can find his Oxford University profile and a link to Oxford's Sleep & Circadian Neuroscience Institute below.

Vlad recommends the following articles if you'd like to learn more about hibernation, wheel running, or local sleep:

https://theconversation.com/could-humans-hibernate-54519

https://theconversation.com/why-running-could-keep-you-awake-at-night-69320

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sleeping-while-awake/

Glossary
Crepuscular = active during twilight
Diurnal = Active during the day
Down state = silent/non-firing period of a neuron
Homeothermic = animals that maintain a stable body temperature
LTP = Long Term Potentiation, a long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections
Photoperiod = day length
Sleep homeostasis = the pressure to sleep that builds up with time awake. It is linked to the accumulation of adenosine as we break down ATP to provide energy for various activities.

Check out our NaPS website to find out more about our team, our research and events.

This recording is the property of the Sleep Science Podcast and not for resale.