What Can We Learn From the Sleeping Brain? Dr. Ruth Benca, M.D., Ph.D.

Sleep is a universal and fundamental process that is present in every animal species and occupies a third of our lives. Although sleep disorders and sleep deprivation have a major impact on public health and great societal costs, the function of sleep has remained largely a mystery. Recent studies have not only begun to explain why we sleep but have also shown that important information about normal as well as abnormal brain function can be revealed by the sleeping brain.

Dr. Ruth Benca, M.D, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California, Irvine and is a world-renowned expert on sleep medicine.

This lecture was presented at the 23rd Annual UC Irvine Distinguished Lecture Series on Brain, Learning and Memory. The lecture series was started by the Founding Director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory as a way to share brain sciences with the public. Read more about the history of this lecture series and upcoming lectures here: http://www.cnlm.uci.edu/outreach/barc...

Learn more about the UC Irvine Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory here: http://www.cnlm.uci.edu