CHOUHAN LAB
Neurogenetics of behavior
Research
In the modern world, sleep is frequently the first to be ignored to maintain our increasingly hectic lifestyles. This lack of sleep will either affect physiological functions or trigger alternative mechanisms to perform vital functions without sleep. The lab is interested in understanding how physiological functions adapt to disrupted sleep and what are the impacts of such sleep-independent mechanisms on the long-term survival of animals.
Previous work in Drosophila demonstrated that sleep is essential for long-term memory consolidation. However, when flies are starved, sleep becomes dispensable for long-term memory. Therefore, flies form either sleep-dependent or sleep-independent memory based on the availability of food. Further, the underlying neural circuitry that promotes sleep-dependent and sleep-independent memory consolidation is distinct as shown below.
Project 2: Why do flies rely on sleep for essential functions?
Sleep may have evolved to promote efficient energy usage to mediate essential biological functions. However, animals can function without sleep which may increase energy demands. We are interested in studying the impact of forming memories without sleep on energy metabolism. We plan to characterize the metabolic shifts that are essential for sleep-independent memory consolidation in flies. Also, we aim to examine how such metabolic changes affect fly physiology and long-term survival.
Modified from Chouhan et al. 2021
To further understand sleep-dependent/independent mechanisms in flies, we plan to work on three interrelated research projects.
Project 1: How do flies switch between sleep-dependent and sleep-independent mechanisms?
An ability to form memories without sleep allows flies to remember essential information in changing environments. Flies form sleep-dependent memory under standard conditions but switch to sleep-independent memory to survive a food-depleted environment. However, what drives this switch between sleep-dependent and sleep-independent memory consolidation remains unexplored. We aim to map cells, circuits, and downstream molecules that drive the switch between sleep-dependent and sleep-independent mechanisms.
Project 3: How irregular sleep affects sleep-memory coupling in flies?
Stress, sickness, and aging affect sleep in animals. Also, neurodegenerative disorders are often accompanied by dysfunctional sleep. We are interested in exploring how sleep modulation in a stressed, diseased, or aged state affects its coupling to cognitive functions such as memory consolidation.