Neuroscience Seminar Series

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Sleep Deprivation and Cognitive Decline in Aging Individuals Modeled by Drosophila melanogaster

Felicia Jefferson

Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, GA, USA

Fort Valley State University’s Neuroscience Biology Engineering and Sleep (NeuBEs) Lab is currently funded to research how sleep deprivation affects cognitive decline in individuals based on gender and age, leading to an array of ailments, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Preliminary results and observations demonstrate that sleep deprivation may indeed play a role in impaired cognitive functioning, and the most severe sleep deprivation cases can contribute to a decline in activity and movement. This project includes analysis on Drosophila melanogaster (the common fruit fly), which led to discoveries in neuroscience and neurodevelopment, including the basis of the circadian rhythm. Findings indicate the Drosophila melanogaster undergo age-associated changes in rhythm strength and sleep consolidation in a manner akin to humans. This was determined through the examination of different strands using a Drosophila Activity Monitor (DAMs) from TriKinetics, which records activity through a series of lights which indicates their movements and activities. Experiments were also conducted using a specialized computer unit (Zantiks MWP) which helped standardize behavioral phenotyping in model organisms, such as larval zebrafish, Drosophila, and Daphnia. The data suggested that most short-sleeping mutant phenotypes in Drosophila melanogaster are characterized by an inability to stay asleep, most likely because of a reduced arousal threshold. The analysis of short-sleeping mutants identified in the large-scale screen suggested that sleep maintenance is more easily genetically perturbed than sleep initiation. Further, it was concluded that these defects in sleep maintenance are usually caused by changes in arousal threshold, mediated by molecules such as dopamine. The promise of using a genetically tractable system such as Drosophila melanogaster to study sleep lies in its ability to facilitate the identification of novel genres, molecules, and pathways involved in sleep and its regulation. The characterization of the molecular lesions in the mutants, identified in this screen and others, will aid in procuring results for future investigation. Funded by NSF Awards #1674717 and 1900572

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