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Sleep Neuroscience (WPI-IIIS) Lab
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The lab uses mice to study the mechanisms and functions of sleep.
AboutAbout the lab
A journey into sleep, wakefulness, and the world between them
The Honjoh Lab uses mice to study the mechanisms and functions of sleep.
Its goal is to answer the fundamental question of why sleep is necessary, even though a sleeping animal cannot protect itself from external enemies and cannot study.
The lab focuses in particular on non-REM sleep, the deep sleep that accounts for 80% of sleep.
To join as a student, one must enroll in a graduate school at the University of Tsukuba; undergraduate students can take part as part-time research assistants.
Key terms
- Non-REM sleep
- Deep sleep in which consciousness is lost; it accounts for 80% of sleep
- OFF period
- A period during non-REM sleep when many cerebral cortical neurons stop their activity at the same time
- Sleep pressure
- Sleepiness that accumulates the longer one stays awake
ResearchResearch themes
To clarify the mechanisms and functions of sleep, the lab uses mice as model animals and examines the patterns of neuronal firing and gene expression in the brain. It approaches the question of why we sleep by looking at what happens in the brain during sleep.
*Illustrative imageHow neurons go silent during non-REM sleep
During non-REM sleep, OFF periods occur in which many cerebral cortical neurons stop their activity at the same time. These periods are thought to interfere with conscious sensory perception and cognitive function during wakefulness, and the lab studies the mechanism by which they appear.
*Illustrative imageAnalyzing the brain regions that support sleep and wakefulness
Among the brain regions that promote sleep and wakefulness, the lab quantitatively analyzes which is the most important. Using neuronal firing rates and gene expression, it examines the changes that occur when sleepiness (sleep pressure) is raised by sleep deprivation and when it is relieved by the deep sleep that follows.
*Illustrative imageCan a mouse that does not sleep be created?
Various hypotheses have been proposed for why sleep is necessary, including the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis, but the lab considers them to still be only hypotheses. It believes that if mice that can function normally without sleeping could be created, the function of sleep could be demonstrated.
MembersFaculty
The Honjoh Lab consists of faculty members, researchers, technical assistants, graduate students, and secretaries.
- Assistant ProfessorSakiko Honjoh
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Sleeping cat 04” Bluemix / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- How neurons go silent during non-REM sleep: “Cortical Neurons, stained” Ns takes photos / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Analyzing the brain regions that support sleep and wakefulness: “EEG Recording Cap” Chris Hope / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Can a mouse that does not sleep be created?: “Lab mouse mg 3263” Rama / CC BY-SA 2.0 fr (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Behavioral Physiology Lab (WPI-IIIS)): “Dog sleeping in a dog bed” Tomwsulcer / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sleep Physiology Lab (WPI-IIIS)): “Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder” Uguccioni G, Pallanca O, Golmard J, Dodet P, Herlin B, Leu-Semenescu S, Arnulf I / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Adaptive Physiology Lab (WPI-IIIS)): “Jsc2023e050554” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Neurobiology Lab): “Rattus norvegicus silver nitrate stained and pseudocolored cortical neurons” Micromural123 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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