Institute of Medical Psychology
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Besedovsky Lab - Sleep and Immunology

 

  

 

 

Sleep is a fundamental but still mysterious physiological state that makes up around 1/3 of our lives. Although it is quite intuitive that sleep is important to stay healthy and recover from sickness, scientific evidence for these notions is surprisingly scarce. In our group, we aim to scrutinize the role of sleep for human health in general and for the immune system in particular. We are especially interested to study how sleep modulates the development of immunological memory, e.g., after vaccination. We also investigate the underlying mechanisms of the influence of sleep on the immune system and focus hereby on the role of various mediators, such as hormones, that are released in a sleep-dependent fashion. Furthermore, we explore methods to enhance sleep in order to foster its effects on the endocrine and immune systems. We mainly perform highly controlled experimental studies in humans and also include circadian aspects in our research.

Sleep and memory

 sleep and memory