Meerlo Lab - University of Groningen
Meerlo Lab
The main research topics in the Meerlo lab are: 1) comparative studies on the regulation and function of sleep in different species; 2) sleep as a recovery process that supports neuronal plasticity and brain function, including memory formation; and 3) the neurobiological and neuroendocrine consequences of chronically disrupted or restricted sleep, with special emphasis on systems that are involved in stress and have been implicated in mood disorders and cognitive disturbances.
Selection of key publications:
Ota SM, Kong X, Hut RA, Suchecki S, Meerlo P. The impact of stress and stress hormones on endogenous clocks and circadian rhythms. Frontiers in Neuroendcocrinology 63: 100931, 2021. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2021.100931.
Raven F, Van der Zee EA, Meerlo P, Havekes R. The role of sleep in regulating structural plasticity and synaptic strength: implications for memory and cognitive function. Sleep Medicine Reviews 39: 3-11, 2018. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2017.05.002.
Kamphuis J, Baichel S, Lancel M, De Boer SF, Koolhaas JM, Meerlo P. Sleep restriction in rats leads to changes in operant behavior indicative of reduced prefrontal cortex function. Journal of Sleep Research 26: 5-13, 2017.
Rattenborg NC, de la Iglesia HO, Kempenaers B, Lesku JA, Meerlo P, Scriba MF. Sleep research goes wild: new methods and approaches to investigate the ecology, evolution and functions of sleep. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society B 372: 20160251, 2017; doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0251.
Weljie AM, Meerlo P, Goel N, Sengupta A, Kayser MS, Abel T, Birnbaum MJ, Dinges DF, Sehgal A. Oxalic acid and diacylglycerol 36:3 are cross-species markers of sleep debt. PNAS 112: 2569-2574, 2015.
Kreutzmann JC, Havekes R, Abel T, Meerlo P. Sleep Deprivation and Hippocampal Vulnerability: Changes in Neuronal Plasticity, Neurogenesis and Cognitive Function. Neuroscience, 309: 173-190, 2015. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.04.053.
Sanford LD, Suchecki D, Meerlo P. Sleep, stress and arousal. Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience 25: 379-410, 2015. doi: 10.1007/7854_2014_314.
Meerlo P, Havekes R, Steiger A. Sleep disruption as a causal factor in the development of depression. Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience 25: 459-481, 2015. doi: 10.1007/7854_2015_367.
Koolhaas JM, Coppens C, De Boer SF, Buwalda B, Meerlo P, Timmermans PJA. The resident-intruder paradigm: a standardized test for aggression, violence and social stress. Journal of Visualized Experiments 77: e4367, 2013. doi: 10.3791/4367.
Coolen A, Plassman K, Barf P, Fuchs E, Meerlo P. Telemetric study of sleep architecture and sleep homeostasis in the day-active tree shrew Tupaia belangeri. Sleep 35: 879-888, 2012.
Novati A, Hulshof HJ, Granic I, Meerlo P. Chronic partial sleep deprivation reduces brain sensitivity to glutamate N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor mediated neurotoxicity. Journal of Sleep Research 21: 3-9, 2012. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2011.00932.x.
Kamphuis J, Meerlo P, Koolhaas JM, Lancel M. Poor sleep as a potential causal factor in aggression and violence. Sleep Medicine 13: 327-334, 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2011.12.006.
Koolhaas JM, Bartolumucci A, Buwalda B, de Boer SF, Flügge G, Korte SM, Meerlo P, Murison R, Olivier B, Palanza P, Richter-Levin G, Sgiofo A, Steimer T, Stiedl O, Van Dijk G, Wöhr M, Fuchs E. Stress revisited: a critical review of the stress concept. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 35: 1291-1301, 2011. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.02.003.
Hagewoud R, Bultsma L, Koolhaas JM, Meerlo P. Sleep deprivation impairs contextual fear conditioning and attenuates subsequent behavioral, endocrine and neuronal responses. Journal of Sleep Research 20: 259-266, 2011. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2010.00895.x.
Hagewoud R, Havekes R, Tiba P, Novati A, Hogenelst K, Weinreder P, Van der Zee EA, Meerlo P. Coping with sleep deprivation: shifts in regional brain activity and learning strategy. Sleep 33: 1465-1473, 2010. doi: 10.1093/sleep/33.11.1465.
Hagewoud R, Havekes R, Novati A, Keijser JN, Van der Zee EA, Meerlo P. Sleep deprivation impairs spatial working memory and reduces hippocampal AMPA receptor phosphorylation. Journal of Sleep Research 19: 280-288, 2010. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2009.00799.x.
Meerlo P, Mistlberger R, Jacobs BL, Heller C, McGinty D. New neurons in the adult brain: the role of sleep and consequences of sleep loss. Sleep Medicine Reviews 13: 187-194, 2009. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2008.07.004.
Meerlo P, Sgoifo A, Suchecki D. Restricted and disrupted sleep: effects on autonomic function, neuroendocrine stress systems and stress responsivity. Sleep Medicine Reviews 12: 197-210, 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2007.07.007.
Novati A, Roman V, Cetin T, Hagewoud R, Den Boer JA, Luiten PGM, Meerlo P. Chronically restricted sleep leads to depression-like changes in neurotransmitter receptor sensitivity and neuroendocrine stress reactivity in rats. Sleep 31: 1579-1585, 2008. doi: 10.1093/sleep/31.11.1579.
Koehl M, Battle S, Meerlo P. Sex differences in sleep: the response to sleep deprivation and restraint stress in mice. Sleep 29: 1224-1231, 2006. doi: 10.1093/sleep/29.9.1224.
Sgoifo A, Buwalda B, Roos M, Costoli T, Meerlo P. Effects of sleep deprivation on cardiac autonomic and pituitary-adenocortical stress reactivity in rats. Psychoneuroendocrinology 31: 197-208, 2006. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.06.009.
Roman V, Hagewoud R, Luiten PGM, Meerlo P. Differential effects of chronic partial sleep deprivation and stress on serotonin-1A and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor sensitivity. Journal of Sleep Research 15: 386-394, 2006. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2006.00555.x.
Roman V, Walstra I, Luiten PGM, Meerlo P. Too little sleep gradually desensitizes the 5-HT1A receptor system in rats. SLEEP 28: 1505-1510, 2005.
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