Sleep Archives - Knowing Neurons

a blue clock against a silhouette of a brain with a purple background

Mary Cooper July 11, 2023August 21, 2023 AD, Alzheimer’s disease, circadian rhythm, Sleep

Alzheimer’s Disease: When Brains Stay Up Past Bedtime

By Mary Bullock Cooper Do you have a bedtime? If you answered no… I’m sorry, but everyone has a bedtime! This bedtime is unlike the one in childhood that is… Read More

Science Policy Brain Development Cognition Sleep

Caitlin Goodpaster June 20, 2023May 24, 2023 Brain development, Data Privacy, Data Security, Instant Gratification, Reward, Sleep, Social media, TikTok

How TikTok Hijacks Your Brain

By Caitlin Goodpaster TikTok, a video-sharing app that has taken the world by storm, was first introduced as Douyin in 2016 in China, where it gained 100 million users in… Read More

knowing myalgic encephalomyelitis infographic

Infographics Did You Know?Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

Kayla Lim May 15, 2023May 14, 2023 CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome, covid, covid-19, fatigue, Infographic, long COVID, ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis, neurological disease

Knowing Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

In this infographic, Kayla Lim discusses the basics of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and intricacies related to long COVID! Edited by Zoe Dobler, Vidya Saravanapandian, and Julia LaValley… Read More

Science Policy Sleep

Mary Cooper March 16, 2023March 17, 2023 circadian clock, circadian rhythm, clock genes, Daylight Savings, Hypothalamus, jet lag, Science Policy, Sleep, suprachiasmatic nucleus

The Cost of Daylight Savings

By Mary Bullock Cooper Spring forward an hour in March or fall back an hour in November… you know the drill. It’s once again that time of year when everyone… Read More

Sleep

Javeria Shahid October 19, 2022October 26, 2022 Awareness, Data analysis, External stimuli, Gray matter, Habituation, High cognitive function, Hippocampus, Lucid dreaming, Metacognition, Motor area, REM sleep, Right anterior cingulate cortex

Everything You Need To Know About Lucid Dreaming In 6 Minutes Or Less

By Javeria Shahid What is lucid dreaming? Have you ever found yourself in control of a dream? Lucid dreaming is a state in which a person is aware that they… Read More

Sleep Brain Basics Consciousness Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sensation and Perception

Mira Rakicevic December 30, 2019June 3, 2021 Anxiety, Cataplexy, circadian rhythm, EEG, Electromyogram, Genetics, Hallucination, hypnagogic hallucination, Hypnopompic, Insomnia, Narcolepsy, NREM sleep, parasomnia, PER2, Polysomnography, REM sleep, Sleep, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Atonia, Sleep paralysis, stress, Vestibular-motor Hallucination

Sleep Paralysis: What Is It and What Causes It?

Sleep paralysis is a type of REM parasomnia or abnormal behavior that takes place during the REM sleep cycle. Also known as sleep atonia, this condition refers to the feeling… Read More

Image split in half with two backgrounds, day and night, with a watch in the center. A face on the watch is half awake on the day side of the image and asleep on the night side. Illustrated by McCall Sarrett.

Sleep Collaborations Neuroscience Technologies

Joel Frohlich August 28, 2019August 28, 2019 Blood Oxygenation, EEG, Fitbit, Non-REM Sleep, Photoplethysmography, Polysomnography, PPG, REM sleep, Sleep, Sleep Apnea

What I Learned from Tracking My Sleep with Fitbit for Two Months

If someone had told me a year ago that he sleeps with his watch on at night, I’d probably wonder just how eccentric of a personality I was dealing with.… Read More

Sleep Consciousness

Patrick McNamara July 5, 2018 Brain, Brain Disorders, Cognition, Cognitive neuroscience, Consciousness, Cortex, Dream, Dream state, Dreaming, dreams, EEG, Inception, Multiple personality disorder, Neuroscience, NREM sleep, REM sleep, Research, Science, Science of sleep, Sex differences, Sleep, Sleep disorders, sleep-wake cycle

Our Dreams Have Many Purposes, Changing Across the Lifespan

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]lthough radically different in terms of their content and feel, the range of dream states are just as complex as waking states. If we look across an individual’s lifetime, we… Read More

Sleep Brain Basics Culture

Joel Frohlich June 14, 2018October 8, 2019 Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid plaques, beta-amyloid, circadian rhythm, dreams, Health, PET, Positron emission tomography, Sleep, sloth

The Wisdom of the Sloth: Is Sleep a Lost Virtue?

In the sixth century, Pope Gregory I compiled an infamous list of seven deadly sins. Of these seven, sloth is the only sin named for an animal in English. But… Read More

Sensation and Perception Learning and Memory Neuroscience Technologies Sleep

Sophie Fessl December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 Alpha waves, bayer, Binaural beats, brain waves, digital drugs, EEG rhythms, entrainment, Gamma waves, monaural beat, Perception, phase synchronization

How Binaural Beats Affect Your Brain – and How They Don’t

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he beat is low and steady – but it’s all just in my head… While I’m sitting on my couch, listening to some smooth jazz, there is a faint beat… Read More

Brain Basics Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

Sean Noah October 31, 2017May 27, 2022 Brain, Cortex, Disease, Disorders, Fatal Familial Insomnia, FFI, Genetics, Insomnia, Molecular neuroscience, Neuroscience, Prions, Psychiatry, Sleep, Sleep disorders

The inescapable nightmare of fatal familial insomnia

A family curse During the early 1980’s, an Italian physician was investigating a mysterious and dreadful disease that had long plagued his family. In earlier generations, this disease had killed… Read More

Weird Animal Brain Brain Basics Did You Know?Sleep

Kayleen Schreiber October 10, 2016June 30, 2017 Awake, Brain, Calf, Dolphin, Drown, EEG, Fact, Knowing Neurons, Mother, Neuroscience, Porpoise, Science, Sleep, Swim, WAKE, Whale

Weird animal brain: Bottlenose dolphin

Marine mammals, such as dolphins, whales, and porpoises, spend their entire lives at sea. Like us, they need to breathe, avoid danger, and care for their young. Like us, they… Read More

52 Brain Facts Sleep

knowingneurons August 8, 2016June 30, 2017 52 Brain Facts, Paralysis, REM, Sleep

Myth or Fact? Your brain paralyzes your body when you sleep.

52 Brain Facts Sleep

knowingneurons July 4, 2016June 30, 2017 52 Brain Facts, Brain, Disease, Fatal Familial Insomnia, FFI, gene, Insomnia, Misfolded, mutation, Neurons, Prion, Protein, Sleep, Thalamus

Myth or Fact? A misfolded protein can cause you to never sleep again.

Did You Know?Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

knowingneurons December 2, 2015March 5, 2017 Autoimmune, Circadian, Clock, Disease, EAE, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, Inflammation, interleukin, melatonin, MS, multiple sclerosis, Neuroinflammation, Pineal gland, Rhythm, Season, T cell

Melatonin: An Old Hormone with New Tricks

Melatonin: you’ve undoubtedly seen it in the supplement aisle at the drugstore…that natural sleep remedy your aunt recommended once, sounding vaguely like a portmanteau of mellow and serotonin. But between… Read More

Screensavers of the Brain: The Science of Dreaming

Consciousness Did You Know?Sleep

Joel Frohlich September 2, 2015July 10, 2017 Awake, Cycle, Dream, EEG, Hypnogram, K-complex, PGO, ponto-geniculo-occipital, Rapid eye movement, REM, Sleep, Spindle, waves

Screensavers of the Brain: The Science of Dreaming

Each night, you place your head on your pillow, close your eyes, and, barring insomnia, you lose consciousness of the world around you, drifting into blissful oblivion. Eventually, you reawaken,… Read More

Did You Know?Sleep

knowingneurons August 26, 2015March 5, 2017 Brainstem, Cytokines, Flip-flop, Grossberg, Histamine, Hypothalamus, Imeri, Narcolepsy, Neurotensin, Nishino, Orexin, Raphe Nucleus, Saper, serotonin, Sick, Sickness, Sleep, Switch

Messing with the ‘Flip-Flop’ Switch: Why Getting Sick Makes You Sleepy

We all know how it feels to be sick. The fatigue, increased sleep, and general malaise that accompany a cold are the primary reasons people stay bedridden when ill. Even… Read More

Neuro News SfN 2014 Sleep

Kate Fehlhaber November 15, 2014March 5, 2017 Amita Sehgal, Awake, Brain, Circadian, Circuits, Clock, Cycle, Drosophila, Fruit fly, GABA, HHMI, Johns Hopkins, Large ventrolateral neurons, Neurons, SfN14, Sha Liu, Sleep, WAKE, Wide awake, Wu Lab

WIDE AWAKE at #SfN14

There’s always one person snoring through the talk you’re trying to listen to at SfN. That person might even be you at some point during this meeting! Whether you are… Read More

Sleep ‘til you’re Hungry. Eat ‘til you’re Sleepy. via Knowing Neurons

Neuro News Sensation and Perception Sleep

Kate Fehlhaber November 25, 2013March 5, 2017 2013, Brandeis, Drosophila, Fruit fly, Ghrelin, Hunger, Insomnia, Leslie Griffith, Neuron, Neuropeptide Y, NPY, obesity, Short Neuropeptide F Is a Sleep-Promoting Inhibitory Modulator, Sleep, sNPF

Sleep ‘til you’re Hungry. Eat ‘til you’re Sleepy.

Have you ever tried to go to sleep hungry? Believe me, it doesn’t work. You just end up lying in bed, listening to your stomach growl, and dreaming about your… Read More

Sweet Dreams or Amyloid Nightmares by Knowing Neurons

Aging Did You Know?Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

Jillian L. Shaw November 7, 2013March 5, 2017 Alzheimer’s disease, Amyloid beta, amyloid-β plaques, Biomarker, circadian clock, circadian rhythm, David Holtzman, dementia, Disruption of the sleep-wake cycle and diurnal fluctuation of beta-amyloid in mice with Alzheimer's disease pathology, Hippocampus, Jee Hoon Roh, Memory, Microdialysis, Science Translational Medicine, Sleep

Sweet Dreams or Amyloid Nightmares

Sleep deprivation has become a badge of honor in our modern society. Competitions break out in coffee shop lines over who is functioning on the least number of Zzzzzs and… Read More

Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

Kate Fehlhaber April 22, 2013March 5, 2017 2013, Alzheimer's, Amino acid, BBB, Blood-brain barrier, Crystallography, Disease, Drug, Huntington's, KMO, Metabolism, Nature, Neurodegeneration, Neurodegenerative disease, Sleep, Structural basis of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase inhibition, Target, Therapy, Tryptophan, UPF648

From Turkey Comas To New Disease Treatments

Neurodegenerative disorders, like Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease, are devastating. As you can imagine, witnessing the slow and progressive loss of a loved one’s mental and emotional states is an extremely… Read More

Brain Development Did You Know?Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

Jooyeun Lee April 17, 2013March 5, 2017 ASD, Asperger syndrome, Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorders, DSM-5, PDD-NOS

Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Infographic

Neuro News Sleep

Jooyeun Lee March 4, 2013March 5, 2017 biological clock, BmaI1, circadian clock, circadian rhythm, diabetes, glucose, high-fat diet, Hypothalamus, insulin, insulin resistance, obesity, Sleep, sleep-wake cycle, suprachiasmatic nucleus

Disruption of Circadian Cycles Linked to Weight Gain

Every night during finals week, I studied into the wee hours of the morning and caught only a few hours of sleep. It was exhausting! After finals were over, I… Read More

Did You Know?Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

Kate Fehlhaber December 12, 2012March 5, 2017 circadian clock, clock genes, cortisol, depression, jet lag, melatonin, SAD, SCN, seasonal affective disorder, sleep-wake cycle, suprachiasmatic nucleus

24-Hour Service: The Circadian Clock

Have you ever woken up minutes before your alarm sounded? This strange phenomenon isn’t just a bizarre coincidence! Like most living things, we have an extremely accurate and powerful internal… Read More

Learning and Memory Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

JuanVelasquez December 10, 2012March 5, 2017 Aberrant light directly impairs mood and learning through melanopsin-expressing neurons, Brain, circadian rhythm, depression, Fluoxetine, Hattar, ipRGC, Learning, melanopsin, Memory, Nature Neuroscience, Retinal ganglion cells, RGCs, Sleep

Let There Be Light!

When I was an undergraduate student, I was an expert at pulling “all-nighter” study sessions prior to exams and project deadlines. Once everything was said and done the next day, many of my classmates… Read More

can you learn while you sleep, knowing neurons,

Neuro News Sleep

Kate Fehlhaber November 12, 2012March 5, 2017 Arzi, Brain, Humans can learn new information during sleep, Learn, Learning, Nature Neuroscience, Neuroscience, Sleep, Stickgold, To sleep: perchance to learn

Can you learn while you sleep?

As a student, I have admittedly entertained the idea of learning by osmosis. Who wouldn’t want to catch some shut-eye with a textbook as your pillow and absorb all its… Read More