Sara Mednick
Professor, University of California Irvine, US
“Sleep as a mediator of emotional and cognitive health across men, women, and menstrual cycles”
Abstract: Sleep is an essential part of cognitive and emotional health for both women and men. For women specifically, hormonal fluctuations that occur across the menstrual cycle or when approaching menopause might affect sleep quality and play a role in lifespan changes in mood and cognition. Most studies that examine the effect of sex hormones and menstrual cycles on sleep and cognition rely on self-reported data or laboratory measures with small sample sizes and between-subjects designs. In my talk, I will give an overview of sex differences in sleep and how these may potentially impact cognition differently in men and women. I will also discuss data from a large study conducted in my lab that uses a within-subject design to investigate how fluctuations in sex hormones across the menstrual cycle within an individual interacts with sleep and cognition. Greater understanding of whether and how physiological functions differentiate across sex and reproductive cycles will fill a much needed gap in neuroscience and medical research.