The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) awarded a $1,836,071 Project Grant under the 21st Century Cures Act - Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative (CFDA 93.372) to the University of Chicago. This 3-year grant will fund research to parameterize the relationship between motor cortical reactivation during sleep and motor skill acquisition in freely behaving marmoset monkeys. The project aims to develop a more nuanced model of the role of sleep in memory consolidation and procedural motor skill learning. Key research activities include measuring changes in motor cortex population dynamics during motor skill tasks, characterizing reactivations of skill-related neuronal activity patterns during sleep, and examining how retrograde interference and sleep reactivation relate to motor skill acquisition. This comprehensive examination of sleep-induced reactivations of behaviorally relevant neuronal activity in motor skill learning is expected to enhance the current understanding of the sleep-consolidation framework.
Generated 7/16/24, 8:31 AM