Ethan Glanc, a young neuroscientist and researcher at the Rogulja Lab at Harvard Medical School, held the 25th Annual Meeting of Neuroscientists and Researchers at the Rogulja Lab at Harvard Medical School. May 2024. At our “Network – Knowledge Forum” in Belgrade, an extremely interesting lecture on how sleep affects our behavior.
While Dragana Rogulja, whom we also had the opportunity to listen to, asked why we need sleep, Ethan Glanc focused on examining how our brain determines how much sleep we need during the day.
In this context, the “inner world” refers to our brain and all the physical and physiological consequences of our daily experiences.
We are not just “robotic” entities controlled by neurotransmitters; There is also motivation and will that help us get through the day. It is fascinating that similar mechanisms can be observed in fruit flies, which have a far smaller number of neurons, but have nevertheless given us significant knowledge, as many as five Nobel Prizes are the result of research on them.
What makes us tired? Is it the time of day, the amount of sleep from the night before, the food we consumed, or the physical activity we did? What happens in the brain when we’re tired? These are the questions that Ethan is trying to answer in his doctoral dissertation.
Ethan also shared his experience on the importance of a good mentor. Even though he didn’t get the best grades in college and wasn’t among the best students, the right mentors helped him bring out the best in himself, stay in science, and start creating great results. His arrival at Harvard is only one part of the story.
Watch the full video of Ethan Glanc’s lecture on our YouTube channel.
