Session 2C: Symposium – “Brain Function in Health and Disease”

Sumantra Chattarji - CHINTA, Kolkata

The alternating nature of sleep

We sleep for a third of our lives, but why we sleep remains mysterious. For most of human history, sleep was considered useless, equated to dying every night to be born again the following day. However, we now understand that sleep plays a crucial role in the proper functioning of various biological processes, including cognitive functions such as learning and forming memories. Obtaining quality sleep is critical in maintaining optimal physical and mental well-being. However, animals like lephants, dolphins, and whales can learn and remember essential information even without sleep for extended periods. Our work demonstrated that satiated $Drosophila$ form sleep-dependent memories but switch to a sleep-independent mechanism for memory consolidation when kept starved. Therefore, the role of sleep in vital biological processes adapts to the changes in environmental settings. In this talk, I will discuss our current understanding of sleep’s functions and the importance of proper sleep in maintaining cognitive health. Also, I will present our recent findings in fruit flies on how heat stress, a major factor in weather-related deaths, affects the role of sleep in memory consolidation.