Dr. Massimo Scanziani
Professor, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, UCSF School of Medicine
PI: Prof. Baohua Liu
12 to 1 PM
IB 140 & Zoom
Title
Simulated Actions in the Virtual World of REM Sleep
Abstract
I will present large scale recordings performed in the brain of mice during REM sleep, a phase of sleep associated with vivid simulations we call dreams. I will show that during this phase of sleep, the activity of various brain regions is coordinated in a way that reminds us of the awake, behaving animal engaged with the external world. These observations reveal the ability of the sleeping brain to simulate actions by issuing motor commands and represent their consequences even when these motor commands are not executed. By performing large scale recordings from multiple brain regions during REM sleep we are starting to uncover the brain’s “internal model” of the world.