Anyone who has experienced an all-nighter knows that sleep regulates our emotions. As an example, mood, anxiety, and stress disorders are all associated with the dysregulation of a specific phase of sleep: rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. Surprisingly, most sleep researchers focus on the other and most abundant phase of sleep, non-REM (NREM) sleep. In the past years, we have discovered an extreme pattern of neural and vascular activity, affecting virtually all brain regions (with a specific pattern in the amygdala, the brain “hub” involved in emotional processing) specifically occurring during REM sleep (see image). We aim to dissect the generative mechanism of these vascular surges and interrogate their function, in relation to emotional memory and brain clearance processes. We will use a set of innovative technologies including functional ultrasound (fUS) imaging, electrophysiology, fiber photometry and optogenetics in naturally sleeping rodents, as well as advance analysis methods
