A sleep-like state has been described in a range of organisms from simple fresh water hydra which lack a canonical brain, to more complex ones like us humans. Sleep is essential for many things including growth, metabolism and cellular repair, all of which are core biological processes necessary to maintain all life on earth: as such it would be highly contentious to identify a sleepless animal.
Sleep, like any other behaviour, has evolved in a species-specific manner and is largely determined by physiology as well as ecology and environment. So, while all animals do sleep, how and why they do it, may vary.
Broadly, the lab has two core research questions relating to this diversity:
1) Why do animals sleep, and do they all do it for the same reason(s)?
2) If sleep is essential, how then do different species go about mitigating the risks inherent with being unconscious?
To address these questions we study closely related fruit fly species (Drosophila) which exhibit an impressive variability in sleep duration, depth, homeostasis and timing. Fruit flies, are a common laboratory model organism which, due to their propensity for genetic and neuronal manipulation, are extremely useful for exploring the mechanisms underpinnings behaviour and crucially, how it might have evolved. Specifically, we use Drosophila to explain how sensory neurons interact with sleep centres and facilitate waking when a threat is perceived. I am interested in how this alarm system may differ between species, which have evolved in different environmental contexts, including degree of predatory threat.
We also use comparative physiology in Drosophilae to explore the ubiquity of sleeps functions. The premise is simple : if we remove sleep, we can determine the physiological and cognitive consequences and whether these are observed ubiquitously.
Sleep, like any other behaviour, has evolved in a species-specific manner and is largely determined by physiology as well as ecology and environment. So, while all animals do sleep, how and why they do it, may vary.
Broadly, the lab has two core research questions relating to this diversity:
1) Why do animals sleep, and do they all do it for the same reason(s)?
2) If sleep is essential, how then do different species go about mitigating the risks inherent with being unconscious?
To address these questions we study closely related fruit fly species (Drosophila) which exhibit an impressive variability in sleep duration, depth, homeostasis and timing. Fruit flies, are a common laboratory model organism which, due to their propensity for genetic and neuronal manipulation, are extremely useful for exploring the mechanisms underpinnings behaviour and crucially, how it might have evolved. Specifically, we use Drosophila to explain how sensory neurons interact with sleep centres and facilitate waking when a threat is perceived. I am interested in how this alarm system may differ between species, which have evolved in different environmental contexts, including degree of predatory threat.
We also use comparative physiology in Drosophilae to explore the ubiquity of sleeps functions. The premise is simple : if we remove sleep, we can determine the physiological and cognitive consequences and whether these are observed ubiquitously.