Sleep architecture and social modulation of vigilance-state dynamics in the freely moving ferret

Sleep is not a uniform state: it is organized into structured cycles of substages (wakefulness, NREM, and REM sleep) whose dynamics are shaped by both internal brain processes and external experience. How social context influences these transitions remains largely unexplored, particularly in carnivores whose sleep architecture more closely resembles that of humans than rodents. The ferret, a highly social species with a well-characterized auditory cortex and an extended postnatal development, offers a compelling model in which to address these questions.

The intern will conduct and analyze long-duration electrophysiological recordings (>24 hours) in freely moving ferrets instrumented with olfactory bulb (OB) local field potential electrodes, leveraging the OB gamma oscillation-based vigilance classification method developed in the lab. The work will focus on characterizing the fine structure of sleep architecture over naturalistic timescales, including the distribution and sequencing of substages, and on quantifying how proximity to and interactions with conspecifics modulate the timing and duration of wake-to-sleep transitions and inter-substage dynamics. This will involve combining electrophysiological data with behavioral tracking of group-housed animals.

Skills gained: chronic in vivo electrophysiology in freely moving animals, LFP signal processing, sleep-state classification, behavioral tracking and quantification, longitudinal experimental design.

Candidate profile: M1/2 student in neuroscience or biology, with interest in systems neuroscience and animal behavior; familiarity with Python or Matlab is expected.