Nobel ConferenceTeacher Resources
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Teacher Classroom Resources
Below is information on this year's speakers to be used by high school teachers.
Marishka Brown |
University of MarylandDirector of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research |
| Ask an Expert: Marishka K. Brown, Ph.D., Director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research | This article provides insights into improving sleep hygiene and understanding the importance of sleep for overall health. It offers practical tips such as maintaining consistent sleep schedules, limiting caffeine and alcohol consumption, and exercising at optimal times. It also explains the different stages of sleep and how they change throughout life, emphasizing the role of sleep in brain development and maintenance. The article highlights the impact of sleep on physical and mental health, including its role in brain cleansing and cardiovascular health. |
| The #ScienceOfSleep and Older Adults Q&A | During this informative Q&A session, Dr. Marishka Brown and Dr. Basil Eldadah expertly examined five key areas of research related to sleep. These sections cover a range of topics, from debunking common myths to exploring the relationship between sleep and aging, dementia, and sleep deprivation. By delving into each area of research, the speakers provide valuable insights and practical tips to help viewers improve their sleep quality and overall well-being. |
Mary Carskadon |
Stanford UniversityProfessor, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University |
| Sleep in Adolescents: The Perfect Storm | This article discusses how various factors, including biological, psychological, and socio-cultural influences, contribute to insufficient sleep among adolescents. It emphasizes that the decrease in sleep duration during adolescence is not due to a reduced need for sleep but rather a combination of factors such as later sleep onset and early school start times. The article highlights the negative consequences of insufficient sleep, including mood disturbances, poor academic performance, behavior issues, and health problems. |
| Inside the Teenage Brain | This interview highlights the widespread issue of insufficient sleep among teenagers and its detrimental effects on their mood, cognitive abilities, and overall health. It discusses how societal factors, such as early school start times and late-night activities, contribute to teens not getting enough sleep. The interview also emphasizes the importance of educating teens, parents, and schools about the significance of sleep and the potential benefits of later school start times. |
Tricia Hersey |
Emory UniversityPerformance Artist, Theologian, and Founder of The Nap Ministry |
| Rest & Collective Care as Tools for Liberation | Tricia Hersey delivers a powerful message about redefining rest within the contexts of social and racial justice. She emphasizes the intrinsic human right to rest, challenging the prevailing view of rest as a luxury. Her insights suggest that rest can serve as a transformative space for meditation and healing, both personally and historically, in our fast-paced society. |
| The POWER of NAPS | Tricia Hersey, founder of the Nap Ministry, experienced profound exhaustion during her studies, leading her to explore the transformative power of rest. Through her experiences and research, she discovered the cultural and systemic pressures that devalue rest, particularly affecting marginalized communities. Her work highlights the importance of rest as a form of resistance against oppressive structures, encouraging individuals to reclaim their right to rest and self-care. |
Maiken Nedergaard |
University of CopenhagenProfessor, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester |
| The Nightlife of the Brain | This captivating video delves into the intricacies of the brain's nocturnal activities during our sleep cycles, and the scientific processes that occur within it. Dr. Maiken Nedergaard sheds light on a myriad of systems that come into play during sleep, with a special focus on the glymphatic system and its crucial role in promoting brain health while we slumber. Furthermore, the video provides an insightful analysis of the brain's restorative properties during sleep. By exploring the latest research in the field, this informative video provides a fascinating glimpse into the wonders of the brain and the importance of a good night's sleep. |
| Glymphatic failure as a final common pathway to dementia | This article highlights the crucial role of sleep in maintaining brain health, particularly regarding the clearance of protein waste products. The glymphatic system, which operates primarily during sleep, plays a key role in clearing these waste products. Aging and disrupted sleep can lead to glymphatic system degradation, potentially contributing to neurodegenerative diseases like dementia. Understanding these connections highlights the importance of sleep for brain health and potentially inspiring further research into therapeutic interventions targeting the glymphatic system. |
Benjamin Reiss |
University of PennsylvaniaProfessor of English at Emory University |
| How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World | The following video is an enlightening and thought-provoking analysis of Benjamin Reiss' book on the topic of sleep. In it, Reiss expertly navigates the complex and multifaceted history of sleep across various cultures, highlighting how our current society has come to view sleep as a frustrating and often elusive commodity. By exploring the cultural and social factors that have shaped our understanding of sleep, Reiss sheds light on how our modern-day sleep habits have been shaped by the past. |
| Book Excerpt: Sleeping Through the Night Is a Relatively New Invention | This book excerpt explores the historical evolution of sleep patterns, contrasting the modern concept of consolidated sleep with the historical practice of segmented sleep. It explains how factors like artificial lighting influenced changes in sleep patterns, leading to debates among scholars about the most natural sleep pattern for humans. Some advocate for a return to segmented sleep, suggesting it may align better with ancestral rhythms, while others argue that there is no single correct way to sleep, emphasizing the complexity of sleep behavior and the need to consider cultural and individual factors. |
Amita Sehgal |
Cornell UniversityMolecular Biologist and Chronobiologist, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania |
| How Important Is a Good Night's Sleep? | In this informative video, the process of achieving a restful night's sleep is thoroughly analyzed. Amita Seghal's extensive biological research with fruit flies has led her to some enlightening conclusions on the subject. Through her explanation of the various factors affecting our sleep patterns, including our bodily functions, biology, and environment, she sheds light on the cultural differences in sleeping habits. Additionally, Seghal highlights the crucial role played by our circadian rhythm throughout the day and night. |
| Circadian Rhythms, Sleep, and Disorders of Aging | This article discusses how disrupted sleep patterns and circadian rhythms are associated with neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. It suggests that these disruptions may contribute to the loss of neural function seen in these disorders. The article proposes that treating sleep/circadian disruption could help alleviate symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders. This information could be valuable in an educational context to highlight the importance of sleep and circadian rhythms for brain health and the potential implications for aging and neurodegenerative diseases. |
Robert Stickgold |
HarvardProfessor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School |
| TEDTalk: Why Do We Dream? | Robert Stickgold delves into the fascinating topic of dreaming and its impact on human beings in this thought-provoking Ted Talk. He sheds light on the intricacies of the dream state and how it relates to our waking consciousness. By examining the brain's activity during dreaming and exploring the reasons behind the creation of vivid dreams, Stickgold blends scientific insights with real-life anecdotes to offer a compelling explanation for the significance of dreams. |
| Memory, Sleep, and Dreaming: Experiencing Consolidation |
This article highlights how studying dreams and conscious experiences during sleep can serve as an educational resource for understanding memory processing. It explains that when we sleep, our brains replay recent waking experiences, aiding in the consolidation of memories. By examining dream content and relating it to memory performance, researchers can gain insights into how memories are processed and stored. This approach can offer a deeper understanding of memory systems that traditional methods cannot provide. |
Additional Lesson Plans and Resources
Listed below are additional educational resources related to the Nobel Conference topic of sleep. These resources are not directly tied to specific speakers but encompass a wide array of materials, including, podcasts, educational websites, lesson plans, and engaging activities to analyze sleep habits.
Websites and Lesson Plans
Sleep affects not only how much energy we have, but also our abilities to learn, be creative, and play sports. The following activities will help your students understand sleep and learn how to get enough sleep each night. There are a lot of activities and opportunities to explore sleep and sleep issues at this website. They are tied to National Health Education Standards complete with the ability to make a 30 second Public Service Announcement as a class activity.
Nova from PBS on Sleep in Kids
Here are a variety of short video clips for Nova that could be useful as introductory material and as a lead in to a variety of class discussions. Additionally, there are a number of videos at the bottom of the page that can also be useful.
Here is a Physical Health Sleep lesson plan from the state standards of Virgina. It is well planned out with a connection to the state standards, objectives, rubrics and activities. It is intended for Sophomore High School students but is modifiable for both older and younger students.
This website is the home of an award winning sleep education program intended for middle schoolers to seniors in high school. If interested, we might suggest digging around here for a bit and see what you might want to pick and choose from. This has a large collection of activities and goodies.
Sleep Evaluation Self-Assessment
Both articles listed above are from the National Institute of Health. They can be used as discussion facilitators based on student self-assessments and conversations on lung health in adolescents.
Various podcast episodes about sleep
Drowsy Driving: Asleep at the Wheel
Sleep and Smart Phones: No One's Answering
How Much Sleep Do You Really Need? Just Can't Get Enough
More Information
Check out this Nobel Conference Resources site for additional recourse compiled for the Nobel Conference audience related to this year's topic.