Our laboratory is equipped with gold-standard technology including polysomnography to measure various sleep related electroencephalography and nocturnal breathing patterns, overnight beat-to-beat blood pressure patterns via finger plethysmography, and end-tidal and transcutaneous carbon dioxide levels.
Contact
- Phone: 906-487-1310
- Location: SDC P105
Current Research
Currently, we are interested in examining the objective sleep quality in a variety of acute and chronic conditions including:
- Binge Alcohol Consumption
- Chronic Insomnia
- Individuals with diagnosed Parkinson's Disease
- Blue Light Therapy
Current research is aimed at understanding the effect of acute binge alcohol consumption on nocturnal and early morning neurovascular control in male and female binge drinkers. An important unknown is whether the sex steroids of the ovarian cycle influence alcohol metabolism and the potential relation to autonomic function. In collaboration with Michigan Tech’s Integrative Physiology Laboratory, the Sleep Research Laboratory is equipped with microneurography, the only direct technique to measure post-ganglionic neural activity in humans.
In addition to polysomnograms to study sleep and microneurography to measure neural activity, researchers utilize wrist actigraphy, home sleep apnea screening devices, urine refractometry, numerous sleep related questionnaires, and psychomotor testing.
Taken together, we hope to determine the potential relation between neurovascular control and insomnia. This study is being conducted in collaboration with the University of Chicago.
Support This Lab
Undergraduate and graduate research opportunities are made possible in part by the generosity of donors and alumni.