BENGALURU: Sleep is so ubiquitous, but little is known about the subject and what drives it. Research demonstrates that even nonmammalian organisms modify their sleep behaviours according to ecological and neurobiological demands. Krishna Melnattur, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Biology, at Ashoka University, is currently studying sleep in non-mammalian organisms in his lab, specifically the fruit fly genus, Drosophila.
In a conversation with TNIE, he revealed how mammals and nonmammals have so much in common when it comes to sleep that can help develop better sleep therapies and cognitive behavioural therapies and advance drug discovery.
“From a public health perspective, it’s really important to study sleep. currently, we’re in the middle of what’s been called a global sleep loss epidemic. This means that people around the world are not getting as much sleep as they need and as they should,” said Melnattur.
He added that this was one of the major reasons for research to find solutions for insomnia. Melnattur also said the subject of sleep is quite interesting as it is “intellectually stimulating with a lot of avenues where studies can be conducted.”
A recent study co-authored by him argued that sleep’s function and structure are not exclusive to mammals. it highlighted that even nematode worms, with a mere 300 neurons, also exhibit the need for sleep. His body of work shows that sufficient sleep plays a critical role in the recovery of bodily functions, memory consolidation, motor skills and spatial recognition across species.
“Declarative memories are important in our lives. We are aware of the fact that when we don’t sleep well at night our learning capacity the next day is hampered. So, we are trying to study how sleep benefits declarative memories in humans,” Melnattur added.
His research showed that when an aged fly’s sleep is enhanced by a couple of days, the fly’s memory improves and it travels better. The professor is also exploring the impact of various factors, such as starvation and social interactions, on sleep across different species. This holistic understanding of sleep behaviours across diverse organisms could lead to new possibilities, he said.
His research also talks about how sleep is plastic in nature and many animals dispense it from time to time, depending on situations and consequences, including humans, dolphins and pectoral sandpipers. Melnattur’s lab is currently experimenting with 400 different strains of Drosophila and monitoring their behaviours.