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UT Science Forum Discusses the Role of the Internal Clock February 21

At the next meeting of the UT Science Forum | presented by Quest, Dr. Theresa M. Lee, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology, will discuss "Tick-Tock: Sleep Across the Lifespan and the Role of the Internal Clock." The meeting will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on February 21 in Thompson-Boling Arena Dining room C-D on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus.

Anyone who has lived with a baby, a teenager, or the very elderly will recognize that sleep patterns differ across the lifespan, as well as recognizing the individual variation at the same age in preferred sleep times, often described as “larks and owls.” What controls the timing and amount of sleep? Why is there such variation across the lifespan? What does normal sleep look like at different ages and in different individuals at the same age? Dr.Lee will provide some background on the biology of sleep control and describe some research from humans and other species that helps explain the great variation within a lifetime of sleep and what is "normal."

The Science Forum is free and open to the public. More information on future lectures is available at http://scienceforum.utk.edu/.

Posted February 10, 2014