Sleep is an essential pillar of physical and mental health, and insufficient sleep contributes to a variety of diseases and disorders. Our current understanding of how sleep is regulated is primarily derived from the study of neurons, but accumulating evidence shows non-neuronal cells called astrocytes also play a role. The Ingiosi Lab studies how astrocytes and neurons interact to regulate sleep. We use a multifaceted approach that allows us to investigate astrocytes and astroglial-neuronal interactions at the molecular, cellular, and circuit levels while also monitoring behavior and physiology. Determining how non-neuronal cell types contribute to brain processes like sleep is fundamental to understanding normal and abnormal neural physiology and behavior in health and disease. 

We use a combination of techniques including electroencephalography, electromyography, in vivo imaging (e.g., miniscopes, calcium imaging), optogenetics, biological rhythms monitoring, viral vectors, proteomics, and immunohistochemistry in genetic mouse models to determine the molecular and cellular basis of sleep expression and regulation.