MARY CARSKADON

Bradley Hospital (lab is on Butler Hospital campus)

421-9440

PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1979. Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Director of Chronobiology, Bradley Hospital.

Sleep and chronobiology

Sleep, circadian rhythms, human development (all projects use human volunteers)

The research focus is the interaction of human sleep and waking behaviors. An important component of several projects has to do with circadian rhythms, which also have a major impact on sleep and wakefulness. Many projects have a developmental component; and thus, children and adolescents are often research subjects in our laboratories. One of our major projects is primarily field based and involves behavioral measurements in children and adolescents using ambulatory recorders and direct observation These studies will examine the effects of sleep loss on waking behavior. Another field project will include high school students. In-lab studies are of several types. In another study, we will measure circadian phase position (through an intensive laboratory protocol) in children at various phases of pubertal development. Undergraduate students are important to assist in carrying out these difficult studies and funding to pay undergraduates is available in the grant. In another very intensive study (summertime), children stay in the lab for about 6 to 21 consecutive days with sleep, waking, and chronobiology testing throughout. Again funded undergraduate research assistantships are available. A final set of studies examines the impact of sleep restriction on children's behaviors. These studies include sleep lab testing, behavioral observations at school, and other measures in which undergraduate research assistants can be trained.

Sadeh, A., Sharkey, K., and Carskadon, M.A. Activity-based sleep-wake identification: an empirical test of methodological issues. Sleep 17(3): 201-207, 1994.

Manber, R., Bootzin, R.R., Acebo., C, and Carskadon, M.A. The effects of regularizing sleep-wake schedules on daytime sleepiness. Sleep 19(5): 432-441, 1996.

Carskadon, M.A., Acebo, C., Richardson, G.S., Tate, B.A. , and Seifer, R. An approach to studying circadian rhythms of adolescent humans. Journal of Biological Rhythms 12(3): 278-289, 1997.

Wolfson, A.R. and Carskadon, M.A. Sleep schedules and daytime functioning in adolescents. Child Development. (In press),

Carskadon, M.A. Factors influencing sleep patterns of adolescents. Adolescent Sleep Pattersn: Biological, Social, and Psychological Influences, Carskadon, M.A. (Ed.) Cambridge University Press, New York (in press).