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Sleep is homeostatically regulated; the more we are awake, the more and more intensively we need to sleep afterward. Despite this common notion, the mechanisms underlying the homeostatic regulation of sleep are still unknown. One key question pertains to which brain activities during waking are relevant for the subsequent homeostatic increase in sleep intensity. In parallel, one could argue what is relevant for the homeostatic decline of sleep intensity across the night. In other words what are the mechanisms underlying the idea that the more we sleep, the less we need to sleep. One option is that just the passage of time is relevant for both aspects of the homeostatic process regardless of any specific brain activity. Another option is that specific activities inducing neuronal or metabolic changes during waking are reflected during subsequent sleep. To distinguish these possibilities, an intriguing approach consists of selectively silencing neural activity in brain areas important for the sleep-wake cycle regulation; in particular of locally and reversibly silencing patches of cerebral cortex (where the homeostatic process most likely occurs). The specific aim of the project consists of developing a miniature cooling device able to reversibly silence neural activity in spatially defined brain areas of freely moving rodents.
We have finished the project and our client is ready to perform the first surgery next week.
| Week | Reporting Period Beginning | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 23 | This week the team met with the client. We also began to brainstorm ideas for the project as well as scheduling design meetings with the client and looking up background literature. |
| 2 | January 30 | This week the team met to go over possible designs for the project. Background literature was also read. The PDS was also written. |
| 3 | February 6 | This week calculations were done to evaluate how much energy would be needed for the system. More design ideas were experimented with. |
| 4 | February 13 | This week, testing was done a the vortex tube design. |
| 5 | February 20 | This week midterms plaqued the team and made it hard to meet although times were set up to meet next week to work on the powerpoint as well as testing |
| 6 | February 27 | This week our team prepared for the Mid-Semester Report and Presentation |
| 7 | March 6 | This week our team continued preparing for the Mid-Semester Presentation and worked on the Report |
| 8 | March 13 | This week our team worked with the Peltier cells that just came in. The Peltier cells will be used to cool the brain. |
| 9 | March 20 | This week our power supply came in so we were able to fabricate the Peltier cell with the cooling device using the vortex tube. |
| 10 | March 27 | This week our team worked on testing to finalize the prototype. We also worked on the end of the year poster and the final paper. |
| 11 | April 3 | This week our client is putting the cooling device in the brain, and the team will go from there! |
| 12 | April 10 | N/A |
| 13 | April 17 | N/A |
| 14 | April 24 | N/A |
| 15 | May 1 | N/A |
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Mid-Semester Presentation (Mar 6 2009, 294 kb) |
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Product Design Specifications (Mar 10 2009, 122 kb) |
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Mid-Semester Report (Mar 10 2009, 267 kb) |
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Final Poster (Apr 30 2009, 572 kb) |
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Final Paper (May 8 2009, 414 kb) |
