Workshop "Introduction into sleep research methods"

Program

Sleep is an enigma; we spend a third of our lives asleep, yet know considerably less about this state compared to cognitive and brain functions during wakefulness. In this hands-on workshop, we will give an introduction into the principles and practice of sleep research methdology.

10:00 Introduction lecture – What is sleep, what is it good for, and how can it be measured?

10:30 Hands-on, part I – You want to record a night of sleep? But how? Polysomnographic recording combines measurements from the brain (EEG), eyes (EOG) and muscles (EMG) to decode electrophysiological information on sleep. It is the gold standard method to determine sleep onset and differentiate between different sleep stages. New generation portable devices and EEG caps allow the recording of these essential features at home and in laboratory, in clinical evaluations as well as in highly controlled experimental settings. During this hands‐on session, you will take part in the first steps of an experimental session. We will teach you how to work with electrodes and to visualize and record (sleep) EEG data.

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Hands-on, part II – So you’ve just collected your first sleep EEG dataset. Congratulations! …..Now what? One of the first steps in your data analysis pipeline is scoring your sleep into distinct sleep stages. This session will consist of a lecture covering the history and lived practice of sleep scoring. Next, we will walk you through the main rules of the standardized sleep scoring manual (AASM, 2015). If time permits, we can put the new studied rules into practice.

14:30 Coffee

15:00 Hands-on, part III – You scored your first sleep data. Great, but now what? Here we will kick‐start your sleep analysis skills and perform essential sleep EEG analyses using open‐source solutions like SpiSOP and SleepTrip. This session will also be helpful if you want to get more experience in the analysis of spectral composition of sleep EEG, and characterize corresponding events like sleep spindles, slow waves, rapid eye movements, etc. If you like, bring your own data to try it yourself.

17:00 Ask us anything – now you have some idea how to make and use sleep data. We are sure you have some questions to answer or might need advice etc., so Ask-Us-Anything.

18:00 End

Speakers/trainers: Leonore Bovy, Freddy Weber, Martin Dresler (Donders Sleep & Memory Lab)

The workshop is organized by the Young Academy of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. The hands-on sessions can be visited independently from each other – if you already know how (or are not interested) to apply electrodes, you can join after lunch. If you already know the basics of sleep scoring and are just interested in new analysis tools, join for the third session. Either way, however, please register so we can plan accordingly.

Attendance is free, but please register via sleep@donders.institute

More information: dreslerlab.org/workshop

Symposium "Psychiatry and Sleep"

Sleep is an enigma; we spend a third of our lives asleep, yet the functions sleep subserves are still unclear. Besides basic biological functions such as immunological, metabolic and endocrine regulation, sleep is increasingly discussed as a state of active cognitive and affective processing and stress regulation. Accordingly, sleep disturbances represent symptoms, causal factors and informative biomarkers for many psychiatric disorders.

In this symposium, we aim to elucidate the relevance of sleep for psychiatric research and practice.

Program (10:00-18:00, including lunch)

Lisa Genzel (Donders Institute, Nijmegen) Sleep and psychiatry

Michael Kluge (University of Leipzig) Emil Kraepelin’s concepts of the phenomenology and physiology of sleep

Marcel Zeising (Klinikum Ingolstadt, Centre of Mental Health, Ingolstadt) EEG-based neuroimaging of REM sleep in depression

Thorsten Mikoteit (Psychiatric Services Solothurn, University of Basel) REM sleep based predictors of therapy response

Elise McGlashan (Monash University, Melbourne) Sensitivity of the circadian system to light in depression

Marcus Harrington (University of York) Losing control: sleep deprivation impairs the suppression of unwanted thoughts

Peter Meerlo (University of Groningen) Neurobiological consequences of chronically restricted sleep: implications for psychiatric disorders

Peter Simor (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest) Aroused brain, alert mind: hyperarousal as a pathophysiological feature in nightmare disorder

Birgit Kleim (University of Zurich) Sleep and traumatic memories

Robert Goeder (University of Kiel) Schizophrenia and sleep

Marike Lancel (University of Groningen) Sleep in forensic psychiatry

Axel Steiger (Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry) Four decades of sleep research – a personal review and perspectives

Attendance is free, but please register via sleep@donders.institute

More information: dreslerlab.org/symposium

Venue Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften National Academy of Sciences - Jägerberg 1 06018 Halle (Saale)