Regulation of human sleep timing and physiology by biological oscillators coding for history and time and influenced by environmental cycles #

Derk-Jan Dijk

10:30 Wednesday in 2Q42.

Part of the Mathematical modelling of sleep and circadian rhythms: from molecular mechanisms to policy session.

Abstract #

NOTE: This talk was originally scheduled to be later in the MS but has been rearranged to the start of the MS.

The alternation of sleep and wakefulness is a key part of the human experience and understanding mechanisms underlying this rhythmic phenomenon is of both basic and applied interest. The basic question is: why do we, and other biological systems, have to alternate between these states and how is this alternation regulated. The applied question is: how can we through our understanding of these mechanisms correct disorders of sleep-wake rhythms and, more in general, how can we engineer our environment and behaviour to optimise these rhythms. The presentation will provide an overview of older, current and future approaches to answer these questions.