circadian rhythm

Vanderbilt researchers Beth Malow, MD, MS, left, Maria Niarchou, PhD, and Lea Davis, PhD, hope to create a genetic risk profile of insomnia in autism spectrum disorder to better inform treatments.

Study explores genetic risk profiling of insomnia in autism

Vanderbilt researchers are studying how genes affect sleep and circadian disturbances in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with a goal of creating a genetic risk profile of insomnia in ASD.

Discovery Lecturer outlines circadian rhythm research

As a child growing up in Miami, Michael Young, PhD, marveled at the “four o’clock flowers” in his neighbor’s yard. What caused its blossoms to shrivel against the day-time heat, and open four hours later when the sun set?

sleeping baby

Circadian clock – Angelman syndrome link established

Vanderbilt biologists have found a direct link between the biological clock and Angelman syndrome, a neurogenetic disorder that occurs in more than one in every 15,000 live births. The link may provide a valuable way to judge the effectiveness of the first experimental drugs under development for treating the syndrome.

Night nurse

Sleep strategy used by night nurses throws off their circadian clocks

As many as 25 percent of hospital nurses use sleep deprivation to adjust to working on the night shift, the poorest strategy for adapting their internal, circadian clocks to a night-time schedule.