Jerry Siegel

My research is focused on the phylogeny of sleep and on brain mechanisms controlling sleep. This has included studies of the brainstem control of REM sleep and studies identifying the role of monoaminergic and reticular neurons in sleep and motor control. In 2000 we, and others, reported that human narcolepsy was caused by a loss of hypocretin (orexin) cells in the hypothalamus, and we continue to investigate the function and role of this cell group. My current talk will be focused on sleep in human hunter-gatherers.

Recent publications can be viewed at: http://www.semel.ucla.edu/sleepresearch/