Sleep and Performance Research Center Seminar Series

Presented by Washington State University – Sleep and Performance Research Center

From Sleep Oscillations to Learning: Insights from Phase-Locked Acoustic Stimulation

March 10, 2026
12:10 – 1:00 p.m. PDT
SAC 147 or Zoom

Meeting ID: 950 1476 4671
Passcode: 341571

Speaker

Reto Huber, PhD
Professor, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Dr. Huber’s lab has long and outstanding expertise in sleep and signal analysis with a focus on high density electroencephalography (EEG) in combination with other neuroimaging techniques (MRI, NIRS). His research currently focuses on the application of these techniques in pediatric populations with the goal to gain insights into the relationship between brain maturation and sleep in health and disease. Most recently, they established closed-loop auditory stimulation using high-density EEG in their lab to investigate causal relationships between neuronal patterns and behavioral outcome.

Talk Abstract

We investigate the relationship between sleep oscillations and learning-related processes using a targeted perturbation approach. Brief, non-arousing acoustic stimuli are delivered in a phase-locked manner to key non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep oscillations, enabling selective modulation of slow waves, sleep spindles, and their hierarchical coupling. This approach provides mechanistic insights into how these oscillations are generated and how they support learning and memory consolidation. We further translate these findings to clinical contexts, for example by examining how alterations in sleep electrophysiology contribute to disease mechanisms in pediatric epilepsy.

Questions? Contact Michelle Sanchez at michelle.r.sanchez@wsu.edu.