Sleep Info

It’s notoriously difficult to track sleep.  Among the choices sleep researchers have had in the past are having subjects sleep (or probably not sleep) in labs, or having the subjects fill out (sometimes wrongly) logs that track how well and how long they slept.  A new tool — fitness trackers like Fitbits that measure sleep…
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According to new research, among the many benefits of sleeping at least eight hours per night is that it can reduce stress and anxiety.   Binghamton University Professor of Psychology Meredith Coles and former graduate student Jacob Nota assessed the timing and duration of sleep in individuals with moderate to high levels of repetitive negative thoughts,…
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A large portion of the country is living in a deep freeze right now, with temperatures staying well below freezing for days on end.  Between heavy snow and wind, power outages are assured.  How can you sleep at night in a cold house, and what are the dangers?  Here are some tips from SleepBetter: Be…
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To measure a person’s sleep, researchers have always relied on costly and time-consuming approaches that could only be used in a sleep lab.  But now researchers have found a way to capture detailed information on human sleep cycles over long periods of time while individuals slumber at home in their usual way. According to the…
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Washington State University researchers have discovered a genetic variation that predicts how well people perform certain mental tasks when they are sleep deprived. Their research shows that individuals with a particular variation of the DRD2 gene are resilient to the effects of sleep deprivation when completing tasks that require cognitive flexibility, the ability to make…
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Today is the winter solstice, which means it’s the shortest day of the year.  The good news is that from now until the summer solstice, days start getting longer, but the process is short.  How do you sleep better when it simply feels dreary and dark outside? Get plenty of sun when you can. While…
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Nine out of 10 Americans use devices like smartphones and laptops in the hour before bed, even though it can lead to insomnia.  Since we’re unlikely to change, scientists are looking for ways to reduce the chance of this sleep-stealing behavior. Smartphones, tablets and other light-emitting devices are lit by LEDs, which have a peak…
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Scientists have identified differences in a group of genes they say might help explain why some people need a lot more sleep–and others less — than most. The study, conducted using fruit fly populations bred to model natural variations in human sleep patterns, provides new clues to how genes for sleep duration are linked to…
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As the first half of the school year winds to a close for college and high school students around the country, they still have one more thing to worry about before they can go home for the holidays — exams.  Sleep is critical to learning and memory, and whether you’re getting ready for a big test…
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Do you sleep restlessly and hit out and kick in your sleep? This could be a sign of a disorder associated with diseases of the brain. Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark have studied the condition of the dopamine producing nerve cells in the brain and cells that participate in the brain’s immune system in…
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