Secrets of Sleep Science: From Dreams to Disorders

Sleep is the subject of intense scientific debate among biologists and neuroscientists. Why must we spend about one-third of our lives asleep? What exactly is sleep? Why does a lack of sleep impair our cognitive abilities and leave us vulnerable to a host of medical issues ranging from obesity to reduced resistance to infectious disease? These 24 engrossing lectures take you to the forefront of the field to reveal what happens in the sleeping brain right down to the cellular and molecular level. You'll investigate what biological changes occur during wakefulness that are reversed during sleep - and why your brain forces you to fall asleep to repay an accumulated sleep deficit, no matter how dangerous the circumstances. The science of sleep encompasses basic concepts of electricity, neuroanatomy, and neurochemistry, which are responsible for the "architecture of sleep." Professor Heller explains the science behind our circadian rhythms, REM and non-REM sleep, the physiology of dreaming, and more. Sleep pathologies and disorders are among the most fascinating topics of the course. From disorders such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome to parasomnias such as sleepwalking and night terrors, the most up-to-date findings in the science of sleep are truly riveting.

All Lectures:
1. Sweet Sleep - Essential for a Healthy Life
2. What Is Sleep?
3. Sleep Across the Night
4. Sleep Across the Lifespan
5. Who in the World Sleeps?
6. The Timing of Sleep
7. The Wheels of the Circadian Clock
8. The Deep Sleep of Hibernators
9. The Neuroanatomy and Neurochemistry of Sleep
10. The Neurophysiology of Sleep
11. Sleep Disorders - Narcolepsy
12. The Strange World of Dreams
13. Funtions of Sleep - Fueling the Brain
14. The Time and Function of REM Sleep
15. Sleep and Learning - Procedural Memory
16. Sleep and Declaraive Memory
17. Sleep and Memory in Animals
18. Sleep and Learning Disability
19. Whe You Cannot Sleep - Insomnia
20. Sleep Apnea
21. Behavior during Sleep - Parasomnias
22. Sleep and the Rest of the Body
23. Improving Sleep
24. Sleep in the Future and the Future of Sleep