According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 70 million Americans suffer chronic sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and circadian rhythm disorders. In the past, sleep disorders where evaluated on whether the patient had an injury, chronic disease or mental illness, but now scientist are saying that when addressing a sleep-related issue, math plays a key roll. Janet Best have dedicated that past ten years of her life to study sleep cycles using math. From the properties of neuron involvement is brain circuitry during sleep cycles, Best developed mathematical models for the interaction and influence of neurons. The big idea of the experiment to see how people sleep normally so we can identify when something goes wrong. Understanding sleep cycles can have an enormous impact on developing better knowledge of the brain and how it works.
NOS Themes:
Science is Collaborative: Janet Best collaborates with the CDC.
Role of Motivation and Curiosity: Janet Best has been studying this topic for ten years.
Link:
http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=130787&org=NSF
Wow! I did not know that so many people suffer from sleep disorders. I found this article that takes about all the different sleep disorders and I found it to be very interesting. I feel bad for the people who have them.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_disorder
This link leads you to Wikipedia but on the page there are many link that lead to other websites for different types of sleeping disorders.
I never knew mathematics could be helpful in solving a problem like this! That's neat.
ReplyDeleteI found a website (http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_disorders.htm) related to sleeping disorders that's really useful. It gives tips for preventing sleeping problems (including jet lag), identifies common types of sleeping disorders (with insomnia at the top of the list), and states the signs and symptoms.