
Our research
Sleep and cognition
Sleep and the cognitive decline associated with sleep loss differ between individuals.
We discovered that a primate-specific polymorphism in the circadian clock gene PERIOD3 predicts:
- Sleep characteristics
- Cognitive decline due to sleep loss.
This provides a unique opportunity to:
- better understand the mechanisms
- underlying individual differences
- by which this clock gene influences sleep and cognition
- Identify novel biomarkers
- Develop novel countermeasures for cognitive decline associated with sleep loss and circadian misalignment
Approach
Data collection: human
- Genotype ~ 1,500 people for the PER3 polymorphism
- Stratify study population (n=72) according to PER3 genotype
- Perturb sleep and circadian rhythmicity
- Forced desynchrony protocol
- Sleep restriction/extension followed by ‘extended nightshift’
- Assess cognition and sleep physiology
- Obtain samples for the analysis of
- Endocrine markers of circadian rhythmicity
- Cell culture studies of circadian rhythms in vitro
- PERIOD3 protein rhythms
- Genome wide gene expression profiling by microarray
Data analysis
- Merge data:
- Sleep physiology
- Circadian physiology
- Cognition
- Gene expression profiling.
- Bioinformatics and modelling approaches
- Identify metabolic and signalling pathways related to
- PER3 genotype related differences
- Other individual differences.