Speaker : Dr Daniela Noain (Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich)

Venue: Pharmacology Lecture Theatre, Department of Pharmacology, Oxford University, Mansfield Rd, Oxford, OX13TH

Title: Closed-loop auditory stimulation of sleep slow waves: Development of the rodent technique and preclinical implementation

Bio: Daniela completed her PhD in Molecular Neurobiology at the University of Buenos Aires before moving to University of Zurich (UZH) as a post doc to investigate the electrophysiology and sleep in animal models of neurological disease. Since starting her lab in 2017, she has focused mainly on sleep modulation in models neurodegeneration. Specifically, she has implemented highly specific slow-wave sleep modulation strategies in transgenic rodent models of disease, using innovative techniques, such as closed-loop acoustic stimulation of slow oscillations. Her ultimate goal is to provide tools for and proof that modulations of slow-wave sleep regulate protein clearance in the sleeping brain and, therefore, could be translated into novel non-invasive human therapies against Alzheimer and Parkinson Disease, the two most common protein aggregation-related neurodegenerative diseases.