How do we sleep? – talk by Bill Wisden (Imperial College London) at MRC LMB on 1st June 2026

Bill Wisden, Chair in Molecular Neuroscience at Imperial College London, will give a talk on sleep on 1st June at MRC LMB.

Title: How do we sleep?

Speaker: William Wisden, Chair of Molecular Neuroscience, Imperial College London

Host: Ingo Greger

Location: Klug Seminar Room, Level 2, LMB

About Bill Wisden’s work:

Why we spend one third of our lives in a state of vulnerable inactivity – sleep – is an enduring mystery. Like hunger and thirst, the urge to sleep is a primal biological drive. It builds during waking and then dissipates during sleep. But the question of what exactly the drive to sleep is remains unsolved. In fact the drive to sleep after prolonged sleep deprivation seems so strong that it is similar to taking a sedative drug. We are investigating the mechanisms underlying the sleep drive and asking whether certain sedatives produce unconsciousness by activating the same neuronal pathways. Using a genetic approach that ‘tags’ the neurons involved, we aim to find out how these circuits function. A deeper knowledge of how sedatives work could lead to drugs that have fewer side effects and might even give the restorative benefits of natural sleep. I share my lab and research programme with Prof. Nick Franks. The Franks-Wisden lab aims to understand:

1) What circuitries sense the inexorable drive to sleep when we are sleep-deprived (sleep homeostasis), and once initiated, how is sleep maintained? (Wellcome Trust Investigator Award).
2) Do sedative drugs promote these restorative sleep pathways? (Wellcome Trust Investigator Award).
3) Does sleep promote the clearance of metabolites? (UK DRI funded)

Source: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/w.wisden

Posted on 28/05/2026