Sleep and Cognition Group

Our research focuses on the role of sleep in memory, mood, emotion and neurodegenerative disease.

Current work investigates the neurobiology of the neuropeptide orexin on sleep, in particular the influences of orexin receptor antagonists on sleep quality and subsequent performance in tests of memory and emotion in animal models. This work expands into investigations of the role of the orexin system in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia, and explores the potential of orexin receptor antagonists to modulate disease progression in mouse models of these diseases.

About our research

Research interests

  • Sleep
  • Memory
  • Emotion
  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Dementia

Techniques

  • EEG/EMG
  • Immunopanning
  • Transriptomic profiling

Research team

Research team head

Team members

Research fellows

  • Dr Giancarlo Allocca
  • Professor Emeritus Daniel Hoyer
  • Dr Ryan Keenan

Research and technical staff

  • Heather Daykin

PhD students

  • Jarrah Kron
  • Jeremy Metha
  • Anne-Marie Peeters
  • Yasmin Potts

Publications

  • Jacobson LH, Hoyer D and Lecea L (2022), ‘Hypocretins (orexins): The ultimate translational neuropeptides’, Journal of Internal Medicine, 291(5):533–556, doi:10.1111/joim.13406
  • Jacobson LH and Hoyer D (2022), ‘Losing sleep with age’, Science, 375(6583):816–817, doi:10.1126/science.abo1822
  • Hoyer D, Allen A and Jacobson LH (2020), ‘Hypnotics with novel modes of action’, British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 86(2):244–249, doi:10.1111/bcp.14180

Contact us

Associate Professor Laura Jacobson

Group Head
[email protected]