Sleep is a fundamental and evolutionarily conserved behavior, yet its primary function remains one of biology’s greatest mysteries. To uncover the purpose of sleep, our lab focuses on two objectives: 1) Defining sleep and sleep homeostasis at the cellular level by investigating how sleep and wakefulness affect different cells and synapses in the brain and the mechanisms underlying these changes. 2) Exploring how these sleep/wakefulness-dependent cellular and synaptic changes impact cognitive functions.