Proud and delighted to deliver the keynote presentation at “Sleep Down Under 2025” Adelaide, organized by the Australasian Sleep Association #SleepDownUnder

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✨ Take-home: LC neurons are not a single unitary arousal system.

LC→PRN brainstem pathway is critical for sound-evoked awakening

Thanks to team 🙌 led by amazing
@nmatosevich.bsky.social , Noa Regev, U. Kimchi, N. Zelinger,
@SinaKabaha Amit Marmelstein @noamgabay.bsky.social

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What happens if you silence LC synapses?

Using an optoGPCR (PdCO), we found that shutting down LC→PRN boosts sigma power and deepens NREM sleep. Silencing both PRN + BF was even more effective.

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Timing is everything ⏱️

Optogenetic activation showed that sound-evoked awakening depends on which LC neurons are active AND when they fire - synchrony with the sound is key.

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Here’s the twist: only the LC→PRN pathway shows a fast NE surge when sounds are played during sleep.

That rapid signal predicts whether the sound will wake the mouse.

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Not all LC pathways are the same 👀

We compared LC projections to the basal forebrain (BF) and to the brainstem pontine reticular nucleus (PRN).
They turned out to be partially distinct populations.

Had a brilliant time at #SXSWLondon Corundum Neuroscience panel discussing the future of sleep - issues ranging from monitoring health, through unique interventions, recording EEG via earbuds, to disengaging from ruminations falling asleep & lucid dreaming w/ Caroline Lustenberger, Simon Bachmann

So very proud of our own @OmerBenBarak1 who received the prestigious Sieratzki PhD scholarship for her research on pupillometry and gaze imaging in closed eye conditions, well done Omer!

Celebrating spring holidays with lab yoga and picnic, thanks Revital Hershkovich for great lesson! Happy Passover

Fantastic #inTRACE conference in Parma, bridging neuroscience and clinic in intracranial recordings & stimulation, non-invasive measures, sleep, modeling. Attending with clinical partners Ido Strauss and Firas Fahoum, huge thx to organizers Andrea Pigorini Pietro Avanzini Nigruada hospital team

Group meeting with touches of Purim holiday

On my way to GRC Consciousness, Anesthesia & Evolutionary Biology, what a lineup! exciting

Had such a great time at Israeli Society for Neuroscience meeting #ISFN Great science w/ a session on #sleep - of course - so many posters from lab 💪 Noa Matosevich
winning best poster award 🤩and above all - simply great to hang out with my incredible team I am blessed 🙏