About Us

Our program of research seeks to determine the functional significance of sleep slow-wave activity in modulating mood, cognition, and physical health. Our work is translational in nature utilizing sleep manipulation paradigms including slow-wave disruption, sleep delay, and napping to examine cognitive and behavioral outcomes. In our currently NIMH-funded research, we are investigating whether slow-wave activity impairments observed in major depressive disorder are associated with disturbances in neuroplasticity, and if experimentally modulating slow-wave activity in this group can beneficially affect mood via enhanced synaptic plasticity (See Research).

As slow-wave activity has been suggested to support several critical brain processes including synaptic homeostasis and glymphatic clearance, we are also eager to understand the broader role of slow-wave activity in sustaining healthy brain function with the goal of identifying future therapeutic targets for both psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. In the near future, we hope to investigate whether structural health inequities and chronic stress fundamentally impair slow-wave activity; and if slow-wave activity impairments are then associated with patterns of accelerated epigenetic aging and biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, and to examine slow-wave activity's role in women's health.