in sleep news

[fflo]

Scientific American: Early to Bed, Early to Rise: Scientists Determine How Gene Behind Sleep Cycle Works
A single amino acid in a particular protein can get you up long before dawn and into bed well before prime time.

I have at times had the ambition to study sleep. I remember trying to figure out what paths besides the full-on neurological (perhaps cum psychiatric) medical education could get me to a place of having some potential to contribute to the body of what's known/thought about sleep, how sleep works, etc. As it is, I'm just an especially enthusiastic lay audience for reports of what people are observing about sleep-related matters.

Comments

[bigfinedaddy.livejournal.com]

That's one of my pet subjects, too. In fact I currently have a book checked out of the library called "The Mind at Night."

[fflo.livejournal.com]

I'm now in line for it next! (They have two---one's due 1/24 and the other 1/26, so I'm not necessarily making yours unrenewable.)

Oh, "night owl"... just got that connection.

[bigfinedaddy.livejournal.com]

Were you already in line for it, or did you just hear about it from me? If you were already lined up for it, that's a cool coincidence, and another strange parallel between the two of us.

[fflo.livejournal.com]

Well, in this case it wasn't one of those weird parallels---I completely glommed onto the idea after you mentioned the book. Looks good.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

The weirdest thing is that if we need REM sleep, it means that we are a species that cannot survive without hallucinations.