Human Sleep and Cognition.

The physiological or psychological stresses that employees bring to their workplace affect not only their own performance but that of their co-workers and others. These stresses are often compounded by those of the job itself. Medical personnel, firefighters, police, and military personnel in combat settingsâ€"among othersâ€"experience highly unpredictable timing and types of stressors. This book reviews and comments on the performance-enhancing potential of specific food components. It reflects the views of military and non-military scientists from such fields as neuroscience, nutrition, physiology, various medical specialties, and performance psychology on the most up-to-date research available on physical and mental performance enhancement in stressful conditions. Although placed within the context of military tasks, the volume will have wide-reaching implications for individuals in any job setting.

Sleep Deprivation and Cognition, Volume 247, the latest release in the Progress in Brain Research series, covers the effects of sleep deprivation, with this new release featuring sections on the Impact of sleep deprivation on long-term memory, Adolescent sleep restriction effects on cognition and mood, Self- regulation and social behavior during sleep deprivation, Experiential decision-making and the effects of sleep loss, Sleep deprivation and dynamic attentional control, a Pharmacogenetic approach to understanding sleep deprivation and cognition, Neuroimaging of functional connectivity in the sleep-deprived brain: what does it tell us?, and more.

The cognitive and behavioral implications of sleep deprivation have been noted in the medical literature for many years. In addition, emerging research continues to demonstrate the contribution of sleep deprivation to some of the most common and costly health conditions today. Sleep Deprivation and Disease provides clinically relevant scientific information to help clinicians, public health professionals, and researchers recognize the ramifications of sleep deprivation across a broad spectrum of health topics. This timely reference covers sleep physiology, experimental approaches to sleep deprivation and measurement of its consequences, as well as health and operational consequences of sleep deprivation. Clinical challenges and areas of uncertainty are also presented in order to encourage future advancements in sleep medicine and help patients avoid the outcomes associated with the myriad causes of sleep deprivation.

Clinical practice related to sleep problems and sleep disorders has been expanding rapidly in the last few years, but scientific research is not keeping pace. Sleep apnea, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome are three examples of very common disorders for which we have little biological information. This new book cuts across a variety of medical disciplines such as neurology, pulmonology, pediatrics, internal medicine, psychiatry, psychology, otolaryngology, and nursing, as well as other medical practices with an interest in the management of sleep pathology. This area of research is not limited to very young and old patientsâ€"sleep disorders reach across all ages and ethnicities. Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation presents a structured analysis that explores the following: Improving awareness among the general public and health care professionals. Increasing investment in interdisciplinary somnology and sleep medicine research training and mentoring activities. Validating and developing new and existing technologies for diagnosis and treatment. This book will be of interest to those looking to learn more about the enormous public health burden of sleep disorders and sleep deprivation and the strikingly limited capacity of the health care enterprise to identify and treat the majority of individuals suffering from sleep problems.

This book reviews current knowledge on the importance of sleep for brain function, from molecular mechanisms to behavioral output, with special emphasis on the question of how sleep and sleep loss ultimately affect cognition and mood. It provides an extensive overview of the latest insights in the role of sleep in regulating gene expression, synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis and how that in turn is linked to learning and memory processes. In addition, readers will learn about the potential clinical implications of insufficient sleep and discover how chronically restricted or disrupted sleep may contribute to age-related cognitive decline and the development of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression. The book consists of 19 chapters, written by experts in basic sleep research and sleep medicine, which together cover a wide range of topics on the importance of sleep and consequences of sleep disruption. This book will be of interest to students, researchers and clinicians with a general interest in brain function or a specific interest in sleep.

Despite impressive advances in understanding sleep as a biological phenomenon and in understanding the nature of mental processes in the normal waking state, our knowledge of mental life during sleep remains extremely impoverished. The common identification of cognition with consciousness leaves the impression that little or no mental activity occurs during sleep. The present volume represents the Proceedings of the Arizona Conference on Sleep and Cognition, held in Tucson January 19-22, 1989. A principal concern of the conference was the implications of recent work on implicit memory and other aspects of information-processing outside of awareness for studies of cognitive processes during sleep, and the role of the sleep laboratory as a vehicle for studying various aspects of information processing outside of awareness, in the absence of the active deployment of attention. To this end, selected investigators in the area of sleep who have an interest in cognitive processes were brought together with their counterparts in the area of cognition who have an interest in sleep. We hope that one outcome of this meeting, and publication of the Proceedings, will be a new agenda for research on sleep that will carry investigators of both camps well into the 21st century.

Why do we need to sleep? What are the purpose of dreams? How does sleep effect cognition? Sleep and Cognition will explore the impact of sleep on cognitive performance, drawing evidence from the complementary fields of behavioural neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Bringing together leading international researchers, the book will provide an essential overview of the relationship between sleep and cognition. Beginning with an introduction to the various functions of sleep, the book will then consider different assessment methodologies, and the range of associated sleep disorders. It is an essential text for all students interested in the psychology of sleep.

"Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity ... An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now ... neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming"--Amazon.com.

Over the years there has been growing interest among the scientific community in investigating sleep and how it affects the memory and other brain functions. It is now well established that sleep helps in memory consolidation and induction of neural plasticity, and that short-term deprivation of either total sleep or rapid eye movement sleep alone can induce memory deficits very quickly. Quantitative and qualitative changes in sleep architecture after different training tasks further suggest that discrete memory types may require specific sleep stage/s for optimal memory consolidation, and studies indicate that sleep deprivation alters synaptic plasticity and membrane excitability in the hippocampal neurons and synaptic up-scaling in the cortical neurons. Further, sleep alteration during pregnancy may increase the risk of depression and adversely affect maternal-child relationships, parenting practices, family functioning, and children's development and general wellbeing. This book coherently discusses all these aspects, with a particular focus on the possible role of sleep in memory consolidation and synaptic plasticity. It also highlights the detrimental effects of sleep loss on mental health, the immune system and cognition. This book is a valuable reference resource for students and researchers working in the area of sleep, memory, or neuronal plasticity.