PhD Transfer Seminar – Anita Taksokhan (Peever Lab)

Identifying the circuits that control hippocampal theta rhythms during REM sleep

Abstract

“Hippocampal theta activity is one of the defining features of REM sleep. Although numerous studies have addressed how the CNS controls the rapid-eye-movements, muscle atonia and twitches that are also defining features of REM sleep, little is known about the mechanistic nature of theta rhythms during REM sleep. Therefore, the goal of my PhD project is to identify the mechanisms and pathways that underlie the generation of theta activity during REM sleep. My working hypothesis is that the brainstem circuits that generate REM sleep communicate with the medial septum (a brain structure essential for theta activity) to control hippocampal theta activity during REM sleep. The broad goals of my PhD research are to a) identify the pathways that connect the REM sleep-generating circuits in the brainstem with those in the medial septum and hippocampus, and, b) determine how these circuits function to engage hippocampal theta activity during REM sleep. I will do this using a diverse combination of anatomical, electrophysiological, and optogenetic/chemogenetic methods in naturally sleeping mice. This research is biologically important because it will identify the circuit mechanisms that control theta oscillations during REM sleep, which may help better understand why and how theta activity during REM sleep functions to facilitate certain types of learning and memory.

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Join Zoom Meeting

https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/9807122861

Meeting ID: 980 712 2861

Host: John Peever (john.peever@utoronto.ca)

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