Sleep-Dependent Modulation of Cortical Discriminability During Visual Learning

Our brains are constantly interpreting the complex visual world around us, from spotting a friend in a crowd or navigating a busy street. But surprisingly, conventional research on how we process visual information has been limited to the use of simple shapes and images, which don’t reflect the complexity of real life. My research focuses on understanding how the brain learns to interpret rich, natural scenes and how sleep plays a crucial role in that process. Sleep is known to help strengthen memories, but we still don’t fully understand how it affects the brain’s ability to distinguish between similar visual experiences. My project asks a key question: how do sleep and learning work together to shape the brain’s ability to recognize and respond to complex images? 

Using a combination of recordings in the brain, behavioral tracking, and computational models, I propose a study of how mice respond to natural scenes when well-rested and when deprived of sleep. I aim to examine how sleep affects their ability to learn and remember visual details, and how the brain's visual centers adapt over time. This work is important because it will shed light on how sleep influences learning, perception, and memory. In the long term, understanding these connections could lead to better treatments for sleep-related cognitive issues, and help inform educational and training strategies that rely on visual learning. By studying the brain in more natural and realistic conditions, we can gain a deeper understanding of how it works in everyday life, which may also shed light into how crucial sleep is to that process.