Robert Stickgold
Encyclopedia
Robert Stickgold is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry
at Harvard Medical School
and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
. A preeminent sleep
researcher, Dr. Stickgold has dedicated his life to understanding the relationship between sleep and learning
. He is also a very active educator. His multiple articles in the popular press are intended to illustrate the dangers of sleep deprivation
.
Stickgold was born in Chicago
. He graduated from Harvard University
before attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison
where he received his doctorate in biochemistry. He worked with the prominent sleep researcher J. Allan Hobson
for many years. Stickgold's research has focused on sleep and cognition
, dream
ing, and conscious states
. He has been a major proponent of the role of sleep in memory consolidation
. Additional research has focused on dreaming. In one experiment, participants played the computer game Tetris
for three days and reported dreaming about falling geometric shapes. Even patients with anterograde amnesia
, who did not remember playing the game, had similar dreams as normal participants. Similar results were found in another study utilizing the video game Alpine Racer 2
. Participants reported dreaming about skiing
.
Stickgold currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts
and has four child
ren.
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts is a major flagship teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital and New England Deaconess Hospital...
. A preeminent sleep
Sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
researcher, Dr. Stickgold has dedicated his life to understanding the relationship between sleep and learning
Sleep and learning
Many competing theories have been advanced to discover the possible connections between sleep and learning in humans. One theory is that sleep consolidates and optimizes the layout of memories, though recent evidence suggests this may be restricted to implicit procedural memories.-Increased...
. He is also a very active educator. His multiple articles in the popular press are intended to illustrate the dangers of sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. Few studies have compared the...
.
Stickgold was born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
before attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
where he received his doctorate in biochemistry. He worked with the prominent sleep researcher J. Allan Hobson
Allan Hobson
John Allan Hobson, M.D. is an American psychiatrist and dream researcher.He is known for his research on Rapid eye movement sleep. He is Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus, Harvard Medical School,...
for many years. Stickgold's research has focused on sleep and cognition
Cognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
, dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
ing, and conscious states
Altered state of consciousness
An altered state of consciousness , also named altered state of mind, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state. The expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart: it describes induced...
. He has been a major proponent of the role of sleep in memory consolidation
Memory consolidation
Memory consolidation is a category of processes that stabilize a memory trace after the initial acquisition. Consolidation is distinguished into two specific processes, synaptic consolidation, which occurs within the first few hours after learning, and system consolidation, where...
. Additional research has focused on dreaming. In one experiment, participants played the computer game Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
for three days and reported dreaming about falling geometric shapes. Even patients with anterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia is a loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact. This is in contrast to retrograde amnesia, where memories...
, who did not remember playing the game, had similar dreams as normal participants. Similar results were found in another study utilizing the video game Alpine Racer 2
Alpine Racer 2
Alpine Racer 2 is a 3D Alpine skiing arcade game released by Namco in 1996. It is the sequel to Alpine Racer.-Sleep Research:Alpine Racer 2, along with Tetris, was used by Harvard sleep scientist Robert Stickgold to study the relationship between learning and sleep...
. Participants reported dreaming about skiing
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
.
Stickgold currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
and has four child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren.