Abstract

Rogulja Lab investigates sleep and motivation. Here, Prof. Rogulja will talk about sleep. The focus will be on two projects, with the purpose of answering questions - Why is sleep necessary for life? and How does a brain shut down from the environment during sleep? The two projects started independently, but both of them came to the same conclusion:
sleep and the gut are intimately connected, and the connection goes both ways - sleep regulates the gut, which is critical for survival, and the gut regulates to what extent can the brain isolate from the environment, which is critical for sleep depth.