Overview

The Science of Sleep reviews our scientific understanding of sleep, summarizing current knowledge related to its regulation, its functions, and the consequences of inadequate sleep, primarily in people.The first part outlines the historical development of research on sleep and circadian rhythms, and introduces the principal methods used in human sleep and circadian rhythms research. The second part reviews the variables that affect human sleep, including development and aging, homeostatic and circadian regulators, and cultural and environmental factors. It also reviews similarities and differences in sleep in other species. The third part reviews the physiological mechanisms regulating sleep and circadian rhythms, including the roles of the circadian pacemaker, melatonin, key neurotransmitters, and other neurochemicals. It also addresses how brain mechanisms alter consciousness during sleep while permitting awareness of some environmental events. The fourth part discusses the impact of sleep duration and quality on cognitive functions, and on many aspects of human health and disease. It discusses the relations between sleep and metabolic and vascular diseases, immune system function, pain sensitivity, mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease. A final part introduces models of the functions of sleep, reviews the evidence that sleep is involved in neural plasticity and memory consolidation, and describes the physiological mechanisms by which sleep affects memory. Three appendices discuss dreaming and its regulation, the impact of obstructive sleep apnea, and narcolepsy and the immune system. A fourth appendix describes the major neuroscience tools commonly used to study sleep regulation, including their strengths and weaknesses.Providing a thorough, evidence-based introduction to our current understanding of sleep, this volume will be an essential source for undergraduate and graduate students as well as medical and allied health professionals in the fields of sleep research and health.

Full Product Details

Author:   Benjamin Rusak (Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology & Neuroscience, Dalhousie University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 22.40cm , Height: 3.40cm , Length: 28.30cm
Weight:   1.937kg
ISBN:  

9781605352978

ISBN 10:   1605352977
Pages:   600
Publication Date:   30 October 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

A. HISTORY & METHODS 1. Introduction to sleep research 1.1 Overview 1.2 Why sleep? 1.3 Early research on sleep 1.4 Dreams and REM sleep 2. Methods for sleep research 2.1 Overview 2.2 Measuring sleep 2.3 Stages of sleep 2.4 Sources of EEG patterns 2.5 The rhythms of sleep 2.6 Issues related to laboratory sleep studies 2.7 Other methods for studying sleep 3. History and methods of circadian rhythms research 3.1 Overview 3.2 A short history of circadian rhythms research 3.3 Studying circadian rhythms 3.4 Masking effects 3.5 Studying human circadian rhythms 3.6 Impacts of laboratory environments B. FACTORS AFFECTING SLEEP 4. Sleep across the human lifespan 4.1 Overview 4.2 Sleep in infants 4.3 Sleep in childhood 4.4 Sleep in adolescence 4.5 Sleep in adult women 4.6 Sleep in adulthood and aging 4.9 Challenges in studying aging effects on sleep 5. Homeostatic and circadian regulation of sleep 5.1 Overview 5.2 Homeostasis 5.3 Homeostatic regulation of sleep and slow-wave activity 5.4 Alternatives to homeostatic regulation 5.5 Homeostatic regulation of REM sleep 5.6 Models of REM sleep regulation 5.7 The two-process model of sleep regulation 6. Cultural and environmental effects on sleep 6.1 Overview 6.2 Cultural, social and geographic influences on sleep 6.3 Cultural anthropology of sleep 6.4 Control of lighting 6.5 Observational and experimental studies of sleep in pre-industrial societies 6.6 Sleep patterns over recent decades 6.7 The co-sleeping controversy 7. Sleep in other species 7.1 Overview 7.2 Measuring sleep across species 7.3 Sleep in invertebrates 7.4 Differences in sleep patterns among mammals 7.5 Unihemispheric sleep 7.6 Seasonal changes in sleep C. PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS 8. Suprachiasmatic nuclei, circadian rhythms, sleep and aging 8.1 Overview 8.2 Physiological mechanisms generating daily rhythms 8.3 Role of the SCN in sleep regulation 8.4 Role of the circadian system in aging effects on sleep 8.5 Are older people less affected by sleep loss? 9. Pineal gland and melatonin 9.1 Overview 9.2 The pineal gland and the circadian system 9.3 Seasonal physiological regulation: a model for melatonin's function 9.4 Melatonin as a chronobiotic 9.5 Melatonin and sleep 9.6 Clinical uses of melatonin 9.7 Melatonin and circadian amplitude 9.8 Cautions in the use of melatonin 10. Brainstem regulation of sleep and waking 10.1 Overview 10.2 States of arousal 10.3 Norepinephrine 10.4 Dopamine 10.5 Serotonin 10.6 Brainstem glutamate and GABA systems 10.7 Pontine acetylcholine 10.8 Acting out one's dreams 11. Forebrain regulation of sleep and waking 11.1 Overview 11.2 Tuberomammillary nucleus and histamine 11.3 Lateral hypothalamus 11.4 Preoptic area 11.5 Basal forebrain nuclei and acetylcholine 11.6 Adenosine, astrocytes, and sleep homeostasis 11.7 Other physiological regulators of sleep 11.8 Overview of forebrain systems involved in sleep regulation 12. Thalamocortical mechanisms 12.1 Overview 12.2 Generating cortical rhythms 12.3 Information processing during sleep 12.4 Sleep protection and information processing in NREM sleep 12.5 Modulation of awareness during sleep 12.6 Sleep as a local cortical phenomenon D. IMPACTS OF SLEEP DURATION & QUALITY 13. Behavioral effects of inadequate sleep and shift work 13.1 Overview 13.2 How much sleep do you need? 13.3 Sleep loss and sustained attention 13.4 Individual differences in response to sleep loss 13.5 Sleep loss, circadian phase and performance 13.6 Banking effects of sleep duration 13.7 Sleep loss and executive task performance 13.8 Effects of sleep loss on emotional regulation and perception 13.9 Adverse work hours and shift work 13.10 Physiological effects of jet lag and shift work 14. Sleep and human health, Part A 14.1 Overview 14.2 Studying sleep deprivation 14.3 Effects of 'total' sleep deprivation 14.4 Studying effects of sleep duration 14.5 Sleep-disordered breathing 14.6 Sleep, metabolic syndrome, and glucose regulation 14.7 Sleep and body weight regulation 14.8 Sleep and vascular disease 14.9 Sleep and the immune system 15. Sleep and human health, Part B 15.1 Overview 15.2 Sleep and pain 15.3 Sleep, anxiety, and mood disorders 15.4 Sleep and schizophrenia 15.5 Sleep and Alzheimer's disease 15.6 Sleep and mortality risk 15.7 Why long and short sleep are related to illness and mortality risk E. FUNCTIONS OF SLEEP 16. Models of the functions of sleep 16.1 Overview 16.2 Ecological/circadian models 16.3 Physiological models 17. The role of sleep in memory 17.1 Overview 17.2 Introduction to sleep and memory 17.3 Studying how sleep affects memory 17.4 Explicit (declarative) learning 17.5 REM sleep, emotional content, and memory 17.6 Sensory/perceptual learning 17.7 Motor/procedural learning 17.8 Separate or overlapping roles for NREM and REM sleep? 17.9 Modulators of sleep effects on memory 17.10 Sleep effects on memory over the lifespan 17.11 Insight and problem-solving during sleep 18. Physiology of sleep effects on memory 18.1 Overview 18.2 Sleep and neural plasticity: long-term potentiation 18.3 Sleep and neural plasticity: visual cortex 18.4 Neural replay and plasticity 18.5 An aside on hippocampal neurogenesis, sleep, and depression 18.6 System-level consolidation in NREM sleep 18.7 Neural basis for motor skill learning 18.8 Spindles across the lifespan 18.9 Sleep spindles and intelligence 18.10 REM sleep and memory consolidation 18.11 Sensory enhancement of memory during sleep 18.12 Manipulating sleep EEG features to enhance memory 18.13 Neurochemical effects on sleep-related consolidation 18.14 Learning during sleep 18.15 Sleep effects on synaptic strength 19. Neural plasticity and the functions of sleep 19.1 Overview 19.2 The involvement of sleep in neural plasticity and memory 19.3 Species differences 19.4 Epilogue on the functions of sleep APPENDICES Appendix A Dreaming and its mechanisms in REM and NREM sleep A.1 Dreaming in REM and NREM sleep A.2 Neurophysiological basis of dreaming Appendix B Obstructive sleep apnea Appendix C Methods for studying neural mechanisms related to sleep C.1 Correlating neurotransmitter levels with sleep stages C.2 Measuring neuronal activity during sleep stages C.3 Manipulating neural functions chemically or electrically C.4 Ablation (lesion) methods C.5 Genetic methods to increase or decrease gene expression C.6 Optogenetic methods C.7 Pharmacogenetic methods C.8 Studying clinical populations with neurotransmitter defects Appendix D Narcolepsy, influenza, and the immune system

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Author Information

Professor Rusak graduated from the University of Toronto and the University of California, Berkeley. He retired as a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus in 2022 from his positions in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology & Neuroscience at Dalhousie University. His scientific contributions to circadian rhythms and sleep research were recognized by his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and senior research achievement awards from the Canadian Sleep Society, the Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine, the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the Canadian Society for Chronobiology. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biological Rhythms (1985-1994).

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