Sleep deprivation: Modulation of cellular and behavioural impact by female sex steroids

Sleep loss is very common in modern societies and has a significant economic and health impact. Sleep disorders are more prevalent in women than in men, and specific associations have been proposed between sleep disturbances and women¿s changing endocrine status across the menstrual cycle, in pregnancy and during menopause. Despite its potential significance, the mechanisms underlying the proposed interactions between hormonal status and sleep loss in females have remained largely unexplored. We will investigate how estrogen and progesterone influence the gene expression in neurons in response to acute sleep deprivation, as well as the quality of rebound sleep after sleep deprivation, in rodents. Although sleep loss appears to affect virtually all aspects of life, its effects on cognitive function are particularly devastating. We will therefore investigate how hormones influence the impact of acute sleep loss on two well-characterized cellular models of learning and memory. These studies should help define possible sex differences in homeostatic regulation of sleep and in the impact of sleep loss, which would have implications for evaluating the physiological and cognitive impacts of sleep loss on women at different reproductive stages, and for women¿s health in general.