Zhdanova, Irina

We study the mechanisms of sleep and circadian rhythms in diurnal species: humans, primates and zebrafish. Such choice of species allows addressing the behavioral, molecular and genetic aspects of sleep and circadian physiology. This is assured by critical similarities in sleep architecture and circadian rhythm system in humans and rhesus monkeys, and by enormous possibilities for functional genetic, pharmacological and neuronal image analysis in zebrafish. Importantly, studies conducted in the Laboratory include different age groups of experimental animals, from young to aged non-human primates and from larval to aged zebrafish. This allows exploring the development of the circadian rhythm and sleep functions, to study age-related alterations in the underlying physiological mechanisms and their role in health and disease. We also study the effects of melatonin and psychostimulants on sleep and memory.