Associate Professor at IMT School (Lucca, Italy)
Investigating experience-dependent plasticity, sleep, and dreams
PI of the Sleep, Plasticity, And Conscious Experience (SPACE) Lab
ERC-STG grant TweakDreams
Giulio Bernardi
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Thalamic oscillations distinguish natural states of consciousness in humans
New paper from our group: using simultaneous EEG-fMRI, we investigated the neural mechanisms underlying individual NREM sleep slow waves. Our findings suggest that slow waves are not a homogeneous phenomenon and may reflect distinct physiological processes.
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
We identified two types of slow waves based on their associated thalamic activity. One subtype is linked to early thalamic activation and consists of larger, more synchronized waves coupled to sleep spindles. The other shows the opposite thalamic pattern and smaller waves.
Discover 40+ chapters on the science of consciousness: humans, babies, animals, artificial systems, etc!
Experts from various disciplines and views came together under the lead of Umberto Olcese and Lucia Melloni
A precious resource for anyone interested in #consciousness!
www.horizon-minds.com
Just published in the Journal of Sleep Research: Alessandrelli & Huwiler et al., "Cardiovascular Responses to Natural and Auditory Evoked Slow Waves Predict Post‐Sleep Cardiac Function."
doi.org/10.1111/jsr....
These findings suggest that NREM slow waves may arise from distinct synchronization mechanisms involving different degrees of thalamic participation. If so, different classes of slow waves may carry different functional significance during sleep.
Also see: academic.oup.com/sleep/articl...
Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 27 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02446-zChowdhury et al. report the discovery of a 19–45-Hz thalamic oscillation that is present during human wakefulness and REM sleep, but not NREM sleep.
dlvr.it
Using simultaneous EEG-fMRI, we identify two types of NREM slow waves with distinct thalamic profiles. Large, synchronized waves involve early thalamic activation and arousal markers, whereas smaller ...
Massive study in @nature.com, converges with our past study of 750,000 people (Sea hero quest) to show u-shape curves for the impact of sleep. We studied cognition, here its disease impact:
Sleep chart of biological ageing clocks in middle and late life
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Incredibly excited to share the latest published work from the lab: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/.... Using a range of techniques, including closed-loop optogenetics, we show that the ACC modulates pupil linked arousal in real time. Great summary of our findings here: scienceblog.com/your-brain-h...
What happens when the brain slips into a microsleep?
An example from a highly drowsy participant showing a brief loss of responsiveness (at time 0s). Details of the research: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Giulio Bernardi
Thomas Andrillon
🚨Apply before 29 May!🚨
At MESEC, we believe that better science emerges from diverse perspectives and backgrounds.💙
💁🏽♀️We especially encourage women and researchers from underrepresented backgrounds to apply to our workshop
💸A limited number of bursaries will be available.
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