This presentation will focus on different parasomnias, the anatomy and physiology of sleep, and the different neurochemicals that play key roles in our sleep.
Parasomnias are a category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages, or arousal from sleep. They are classified according to the stages of sleep in which they occur, rapid eye movement (REM) or non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.
This webinar is best suited for medical professionals of various backgrounds who encounter patients suffering from different parasomnias.
For what it’s worth, it is advisable to skip over Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carey at the beginning.
If you actually care about science it’s best to start watching when the panel discussion starts featuring a doctor in a white lab coat. (The doctor also bears an uncanny resemblance to Dr. House)
The fist part of the program, is a giant room (instalation) with artists conceptualizations of the different parts of the brains. This, though a bit abstract was definitely the highlight of the evening. (pictures here). I particularly liked the portrayal of the thalamus.
Then came the performance part which seemed very erratic and non-sensible. The program started with the small (~30 people) audience having to sign a “wiaver” which was more of a thinly vailed joke at an individual consent form, used in clinical research.. The program from there began to just start veering all over the place. A few clips of an interview with V.S. Ramachandran instersupurced with some wierd acting/behavior by the 3 person cast. It was literally all over the place. Amy was very talented, and it showed, but I just didn’t understand what the point was.
Now granted, as one with a background in neuroscience, maybe I was not the target audience for such a performance. In a similar vein, my appreciation for modern art isn’t great. Nor do I have much appreciation for modern theater either. (I’m better with the visual art). So with that in mind, my review is probably a bit biased in that way.
Now considering the quality of airline food these days, that doesn’t sound like too daunting of a task.
Without having read the paper itself, I’m curious to see what if any implications the Orexin/Hypocretin system play in this phenomena. Perhaps though that is too speculative at this point in time.
From the December 26th issue of the Journal of Neuroscience
Systemic and Nasal Delivery of Orexin-A (Hypocretin-1) Reduces the Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Performance in Nonhuman Primates [Abstract]
Or in laymans terms, here’s the article from Wired
According to an article published in the most recent issue o the journal Sleep, a French study has shown thatfor middle age drivers, Coffee was better. While, Middle Age drivers did better with a nap.
Now, not having read the article yet (I plan to do so, once a copy of the journal arrives at work), a few questions immediately come to mind. One of the most glarin is if the drivers sleep patterns were monitored in the nights leading up to this test. In doing so, one could detect any slee disorders which would have had an impact in motor-cognitive function.
For now though, here’s a link to the abstract
Personally, I’ll take both coffee and a nap, thank you very much.