# Robust circuit computation in freely behaving animals.

> **NIH NIH RF1** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $1,842,189

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Sleep is necessary for all brain function and ultimately life. The core function by which sleep contributes to
healthy cognition remains one of the great questions facing neuroscience. Recent theories point to powerful
cellular rules, but these are controversial and have difficulty accounting for the effects of sleep in ethologically
and developmentally diverse circumstances.
We recently showed that cortical circuit dynamics are actively tuned to criticality, a computational regime that
maximizes information processing. This regime is disrupted by changes in synaptic strength, such as those
believed to typify waking experience. This raises the intriguing possibility that the core mechanism by which
sleep benefits neural function is by restoring criticality. Our preliminary experiments support this hypothesis. The
overall goal of this project is to develop a new framework for understanding the neural impact of sleep and
experience at the level of network dynamics. We will continuously track 500-1000 single neurons in the brains
of freely behaving animals for up to six months. We will track sleep, wake, behavior, and neural dynamics across
the entire distribution of naturally occurring behavior. We will take advantage of this methodologically integrated
approach to understand how circuits in the brain maintain the stable computation necessary for cognition and
natural behavior on long time-scales.
In Aim 1, we will test the relationship between specific classes of behavior and criticality in underlying networks.
In Aim 2, we will test the impact of wake and sleep on criticality across the brain for the majority of an animal's
lifetime. In Aim 3, we will use a modelling-based approach to establish the mechanisms of criticality in the intact
brain. The results of this work will shed light on a long-standing gap in our knowledge of fundamental
neurobiology. Given the increasingly recognized role of sleep in a vast number of brain-related disorders, an
understanding of how sleep works will open the door to significant health-related progress in the future. This
work directly advances the mission of the BRAIN Initiative.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10053390
- **Project number:** 1RF1NS118442-01
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Keith B. Hengen
- **Activity code:** RF1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,842,189
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10053390

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10053390, Robust circuit computation in freely behaving animals. (1RF1NS118442-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10053390. Licensed CC0.

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