MASTERS BY RESEACH PROJECT: Exploring the interaction between sleep and myelination

Start Date 23 September 2019

This MSc by Research is a laboratory-based project which offers the exciting opportunity to spend 1 year (plus 1 year thesis writing) in one of our State-of-the-Art laboratories at the University of Bristol and experience life as a researcher. You will be working with one of our cutting-edge research groups where you will learn new skills and techniques, including experimental design and implementation, data analysis and scientific writing.

In order to function properly the brain needs myelin, an electrically insulating substance that surrounds nerve fibers. Myelin is continuously remodelled in the brain and sleep is one of key factors contributing to the formation and maintenance of myelin in the brain.

The objective of my research is to understand how sleep regulates myelination and whether we can promote myelin formation and maintenance by enhancing sleep. Recent research demonstrated that enhancing sleep is possible in both rodents and humans using non-invasive approaches.

This research will help clarify why sleep is beneficial to our health and whether sleep can be manipulated to enhance the capability of our brain to produce more myelin, particularly in the pathological context of debilitating neurological diseases, where myelin formation is crucial for the recovery process.

Please visit the UOB/faculty of Life Sciences/ School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience/ postgraduate studies website for the complete list of available MSc by Research projects.