Learning and sleep: A network dynamic approach. (360G-Wellcome-098352_Z_12_Z)

General: 1). Can a detailed mechanistic understanding of EEG/MEG-recorded rhythms aid understanding of the pathology underlying neurological and psychiatric illness? 2). How can rhythms influence - and be influenced by - synaptic plastic changes associated with learning and memory? 3). How is the overall structure the cortical dynamic process formed and what are the functional implications for cortical computation? Specific: 4). How is the cortical delta rhythm generated and used to temporally coordinate higher frequency EEG rhythms in models of deep sleep? 5). How does this cross-frequency coordination impact on the pattern of synaptic plastic changes accompanying cortical input (as sensory experience or modelled in experiment) and subsequent synaptic rescaling during sleep. 6). What is the mechanism underlying the relationship between chronically disrupted sleep delta rhythms and severe learning disability (mental retardation)? Can an understanding of the underl ying derangement of cortical dynamics in people with severe learning disability help to generate novel therapeutic interventions?