Sleep, Memory and Synaptic Plasticity

Over the years there has been growing interest among the scientific community in investigating sleep and how it affects the memory and other brain functions. It is now well established that sleep helps in memory consolidation and induction of neural plasticity, and that short-term deprivation of either total sleep or rapid eye movement sleep alone can induce memory deficits very quickly. Quantitative and qualitative changes in sleep architecture after different training tasks further suggest that discrete memory types may require specific sleep stage/s for optimal memory consolidation, and studies indicate that sleep deprivation alters synaptic plasticity and membrane excitability in the hippocampal neurons and synaptic up-scaling in the cortical neurons. Further, sleep alteration during pregnancy may increase the risk of depression and adversely affect maternal-child relationships, parenting practices, family functioning, and children's development and general wellbeing. 

This book coherently discusses all these aspects, with a particular focus on the possible role of sleep in memory consolidation and synaptic plasticity. It also highlights the detrimental effects of sleep loss on mental health, the immune system and cognition.

This book is a valuable reference resource for students and researchers working in the area of sleep, memory, or neuronal plasticity.

Dr. Sushil K Jha is currently working as an Associate Professor at the School of Life Sciences at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. He obtained his Ph.D. from Hamdard University in 2001 and subsequently worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA from 2001 to 2007. In 2007 he was appointed Assistant Professor at JNU and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2013.
He is one of the few scientists in India currently working on neuronal and physiological aspects of sleep and its impact on overall mental and physical health at the molecular level. He has been able to show, at the molecular level, the importance of sleep for memory functions and its implications for the immune system. Dr. Jha has published 26 research papers in respected international journals and contributed chapters in 6 different books published by leading publishers, including Oxford and Cambridge University Press.

Among the various prestigious awards that he has received, one of the notable is the NASI Scopus Young Scientist Award in 2007 from Elsevier. He is also the recipient of the American Sleep Medicine Foundation's Faculty Career Development Award in 2005.

In order to raise awareness among people regarding the importance of sleep for proper brain function and memory, he has periodically appeared on national television and also published articles in national newspapers.

Dr. Vibha M. Jha earned her Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2005 and subsequently worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. She has worked in Dr. Adrian Morrison's lab in the Department of Animal Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine UPENN, Philadelphia, USA.

Dr. Jha has published several research papers in reputed international journals and contributed chapters in different books. She is a recipient of several awards and gold medals, such as Dr. Ramji Narain Omvati Gold Medal and Panjab University Medal for standing first in M.Sc. (H.S.). She is engaged in sleep research since 1999 and has contributed significantly to the field of sleep research.