To sleep, or not to sleep: How environmental context determines the need for sleep

We sleep for a third of our lives, but why we sleep remains mysterious. For most of human history, sleep was considered useless, equated to dying every night to be born again the following day. However, we now appreciate that sleep plays a vital role in the proper functioning of various biological processes, including cognitive functions like learning and forming memories. Getting quality sleep is essential for optimal physical and mental well-being. Intriguingly, animals like elephants, dolphins, and whales can learn and remember critical information even without sleep for extended periods, indicating that sleep’s function might be adaptive. In this talk, I will discuss the current understanding of sleep and its functions. Also, I will present our recent findings in tiny fruit flies on how sleep’s role in memory consolidation adapts to altering environments.