Author Description

This unique volume draws together current knowledge about the basic mechanisms responsible for sleep and other biological rhythms, and surveys the clinical applications that have recently evolved from research in these fields. The first part of the book details the organization of physiological and behavioral rhythms, their alteration in psychiatric conditions, the effects of sleep manipulation on affective disorders, and the effects of bright light exposure on melatonin secretion, sleep, and mood. The second part focuses on the physiology of sleep, and includes information on brainstem and diencephalic mechanisms of REM sleep control, putative sleep modulators and studies of the treatment of sleep disorders with cholinergic, monoaminergic, opiod and benzodiazepinic agents. As an authoritative, up-to-date resource, this work will interest psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and psychopharmacologists. It is an essential reference for sleep researchers and anyone involved in the study of circadian rhythms.