Mass. General-developed system reveals how our brains and bodies change as we fall asleep

November 21, 2014

 

The Martinos Center's Patrick Purdon and colleagues have developed a system to accurately track the dynamic process of falling asleep, something that has not been possible with existing techniques. In their report in the October issue of the open-access journal PLOS Computational Biology, the research team describes how combining key physiologic measurements with a behavioral task that does not interfere with sleep onset gives a better picture of the gradual process of falling asleep. In addition to being a powerful tool for future research, the system could provide valuable insight into diagnosing and understanding sleep disorders.

Read the full Mass. General news release here.