Animals are highly tuned to sense changes in their environments and adapt behavior accordingly. Hungry animals reduce sleep, increase foraging behavior, and prefer high-calorie foods. Dysregulation of sleep and feeding has enormous health consequence. Sleep loss correlates with elevated appetite and insulin insensitivity. Short sleeping individuals are more likely to become obese, develop metabolic disorder, Type II diabetes, and cardiac disease. This research program aims to identify the genetic basis of sleep changes in accordance with nutrients availability. We focus primarily in the fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster and the blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus
