Research Areas and Current Projects

1. Sleep, Aging, and Brain Energy

We study the relationships among sleep physiology, mitochondrial function, and cognitive aging. Our work examines sleep architecture, sleep homeostasis, and the organization of NREM and REM sleep in conjunction with measures of brain metabolism and cellular stress. By integrating electrophysiological, metabolic, and behavioral assessments, we characterize how these processes change with age and how they respond to metabolic interventions.

A major focus is the influence of ketogenic diets and exogenous ketones on sleep and memory. Our studies in aged Fischer-344 rats have demonstrated sex-dependent effects of ketogenic interventions on REM sleep, improved spatial memory performance with a ketogenic diet in both sexes, and reduced markers of lipid peroxidation in females. These findings highlight the importance of considering sex, sleep stage, and metabolic context when interpreting intervention effects.

This research brings together sleep physiology and cellular metabolism to characterize the biological effects of metabolic interventions and their relevance to cognitive function in aging.

2. Anesthesia, Recovery, and Postoperative Delirium

We investigate how metabolic state, aging, and sleep influence the brain’s response to anesthesia and its subsequent recovery. Our studies examine anesthetic EEG dynamics, burst suppression, emergence, and cognitive outcomes, together with measures of cellular metabolism, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. This work addresses biological factors that contribute to variation in anesthetic responses and perioperative brain vulnerability.

Our published studies demonstrate that a ketogenic diet reduces sevoflurane-induced burst suppression in young rats, establishing that dietary metabolic state can modify anesthetic neurophysiology. Research in aged animals broadens this work to characterize responses across age and sex and to examine cognitive and cellular outcomes associated with anesthesia.

A complementary line of research examines the relationship between physiological sleep and pharmacologically induced brain states. Our work on dexmedetomidine identifies neurophysiological differences between sedation and natural NREM sleep across the rodent lifespan. Together, these studies inform our understanding of brain-state regulation and recovery, with the broader goal of supporting strategies to reduce perioperative neurocognitive vulnerability, including postoperative delirium.

3. Metabolic and Sleep Mechanisms in Psychiatric Disorders

We investigate the intersection of brain metabolism, sleep regulation, and behavioral function in experimental models relevant to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. This research focuses on mitochondrial function, cellular stress responses, and neuroimmune processes in the context of psychiatric vulnerability.

Our studies combine behavioral phenotyping with neurophysiological and cellular measurements to characterize stress susceptibility, reward-related behavior, cognition, and sleep. We also examine the relationships among metabolic state, pharmacological treatment responses, and the biological effects of interventions that influence metabolism and sleep.

By studying defined behavioral and physiological dimensions, this program connects cellular mechanisms with functional outcomes relevant to psychiatric disorders. The broader objective is to clarify the contribution of metabolic and sleep disturbances to psychiatric phenotypes and support the development of biologically informed therapeutic approaches.

4. Sleep and Metabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease

Our Alzheimer’s disease research examines the relationships among sleep disruption, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. We are interested in how these processes relate to neuronal function, cognitive impairment, and disease-associated neuropathology.

Using experimental models of Alzheimer’s disease, we integrate sleep phenotyping, metabolic measurements, behavioral assessments, and analyses of neuronal and glial responses. This approach allows us to interpret changes in sleep and cognition alongside cellular and pathological features of disease. Particular emphasis is placed on mitochondrial function and redox regulation as components of the broader relationship between sleep and brain health.

Research in this area also evaluates sleep- and metabolism-directed interventions in preclinical models, with outcomes spanning sleep physiology, cognitive function, and disease-related cellular changes. The overarching goal is to advance understanding of these interacting processes and inform the development of approaches that support brain function in the context of neurodegenerative disease.

Techniques