Every morning, billions of people wake up feeling either refreshed and ready to take on the day, or exhausted and irritable. Turns out, waking up on the wrong side of the bed has a deep-rooted biological basis. Despite over a hundred years of research and exploration, some of the most fundamental aspects of sleep have remained elusive. Scientists have discovered genes and neurons that influence sleep, but many complexities of sleep remain unknown.
​
At the Chowdhury Lab, we are searching for simple answers to these complex questions. Our animals of choice are tiny fruit flies that buzz about the kitchen. Recent discoveries from our lab have shown that fruit flies, like us, have different sleep states like light and deep sleep. We have also identified amine molecules and neurons that independently regulate deep sleep and aggression.
 
As a wonderful (and slightly rowdy) group of people, we are trying to answer major questions in behavioral neuroscience about what it means to feel sleepy and how that shapes decision-making.