Pierre-hervé Luppi

Biography

 He is working on delineate the neuronal mechanisms and pathways responsible for the natural sleep-waking cycle, with a focus on paradoxical (also coined REM) sleep, a fascinating vigilance state during which cortical activity is maximal and dreams occur. Sleep deprivation and chronic insomnia impact mood and metabolism, reduce cognitive performances and affect the quality of life. Deciphering basic sleep mechanisms in diverse species thus represents a necessary step towards understanding both normal brain functioning and etiology of human sleep disorders as sleep apnea, narcolepsy or REM sleep behavior disorders, a prodromal marker of synucleinopathies (Parkinson disease).                                                                       Methods & Techniques
 - Rats; Knock-in and conditional transgenic mice; lizards. - Rodent models of human sleep disorders (narcolepsy; RBD) - Polysomnography (EEG; EMG; EOG; EKG; brain temperature) - Electrophysiology in freely moving or head-restrained animals: LFP; single-unit, multi-electrodes or intracellular recordings. 
- Pharmacology, Pharmacogenetics or Optogenetics combined to polysomnography and time-locked high-quality video recordings.
 - Automatic (total or selective to PS) sleep deprivation; Behavioral learning and memory paradigms; Actimetry. Research projects 
• Brain mechanisms responsible for the generation and homeostatic regulation of paradoxical (REM) sleep and the natural alternation of vigilance states (Patrice Fort, Christelle. Peyron; Pierre-Hervé Luppi); 
• Brain mechanisms controlling motor outputs during paradoxical sleep (Nadia Urbain, Patrice Fort, Christelle Peyron); • Rodent models of human sleep pathologies as REM-behavior disorder and narcolepsy (Christelle Peyron; Patrice Fort); 
• Role of paradoxical sleep in learning, emotional memory processes and dreaming activity (Pierre-Hervé Luppi)

Research Interest

 Neurology