How sleep changes tiny brain connections in memory and emotion centers
Official title: Molecular Mechanisms of Memory Consolidation in the Amygdala-Hippocampal Circuit
Funded at University of Mississippi Med Ctr · NIH-11376170 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how sleep reshapes small connections in brain areas tied to emotion and memory to help people with psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia and PTSD who have sleep and memory problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Mississippi Med Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Jackson, United States) |
| Project start | March 6, 2023 |
| Project end | February 29, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $280,551 |
| NIH project number | 5P20GM144041-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11376170 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with schizophrenia or PTSD who experience disrupted sleep and problems with memory or excessive fear memories would be most relevant to the findings.
✕Less likely to help
People whose conditions do not involve sleep or memory dysfunction are less likely to receive direct benefit from this research.
What this research studies
Researchers will use a special transgenic mouse model together with human brain tissue to track how sleep changes connections in the hippocampus and amygdala. They will measure gene activity in individual cell nuclei and map those signals across tissue, and they will measure specific proteins using targeted mass spectrometry. The team will compare how synapses are strengthened or pruned during sleep in the two brain regions to find molecular signaling differences. Findings from both animal models and postmortem human samples will be combined to build a molecular map of sleep-related memory consolidation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal molecular targets to help improve sleep-related memory deficits and reduce excessive fear memories in disorders such as schizophrenia and PTSD.
How similar studies have gone: Prior animal studies support sleep-related pruning and strengthening of synapses, but detailed molecular mapping across the amygdala and hippocampus and confirmation in human tissue is largely novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Mississippi Med Ctr
Jackson, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gisabella, Barbara — University of Mississippi Med Ctr
- Study coordinator: Gisabella, Barbara
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.