# Sleep Based Memory Consolidation in Juvenile Zebra Finch

> **NIH NIH F99** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $37,499

## Abstract

Project Summary
Sleep is thought to play a significant contribution in the consolidation of multiple forms of memories during
development. Transient disruptions of sleep often lead to delays and losses in learned skilled behaviors. While
research has made great progress in understanding the role of sleep in the hippocampal dependent learning of
explicit memories, how sleep influences the synaptic circuits involved in learning perceptual and procedural
memories is still poorly understood. Songbirds provide an unmatched opportunity to study sleep based
consolidation of skilled motor behaviors. Juvenile songbirds learn their courtship song through extensive daily
practice, producing tens of thousands of renditions by adulthood. Daily, auditory-feedback guided improvements
in song are hypothesized to be consolidated nightly during sleep, enabling renewed vocal exploration and
continued refinement of song performances through development. My predoctoral research seeks to identify the
synaptic circuits involved in sleep-based consolidation of song and the long-term impact of transient disruptions
in these circuits during song development. By combining in vivo pharmacological manipulations with machine
learning-based approaches for segregating and analyzing changes in singing behavior, I have identified at least
one nuclei governing the sleep-based consolidation of complex motor behaviors. Remaining work to be done
during the F99 phase will focus on the specific contributions of individual premotor synaptic circuits using
synapse-specific pharmacology in conjunction with pathway specific chemogenetics. Also during the F99 phase,
I will follow up on unexpected findings to determine the evolutionary relevance of song diversity in mate choice.
The K00 phase of this proposal will provide a specific plan to find an ideal mentor and research environment for
enhancing my knowledge and technical skills of neuroinvasion and propagation of viruses leading to generation
of novel viral vectors for the effective dissection of neural circuits. Together, the research and training detailed
in the two phases of this proposal will allow me to achieve my long-term goal of engineering sophisticated tools
to understand the molecular, cellular, and synaptic basis of learned complex motor behaviors as a tenured
principal investigator.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10319443
- **Project number:** 1F99NS124172-01
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Danyal H Alam
- **Activity code:** F99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $37,499
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10319443

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10319443, Sleep Based Memory Consolidation in Juvenile Zebra Finch (1F99NS124172-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10319443. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*