UNI NOVA – Research Magazine of the University of Basel

• Dossier

  Sleepless in the sleep laboratory

  Text: Yannik Sprecher / My night was not as unpleasant as I had anticipated – wearing electrodes on my head was certainly unusual, but less awkward than expected. Also, my bed was comfortable and the carers were kind. Still, I would not want to spend my nights in the sleep lab for weeks on end. A first-hand account.

• 
  Dossier

  Exercise and being in love promote a good night’s sleep

  Text: Martin Hicklin / What can be done when sleep is badly disturbed, and what promotes good sleep? Research groups at the Psychiatric Clinics of the University of Basel (UPK) have been addressing such questions for some time now. Exercise is good – but so is being in love.

• Dossier

  Dealing with stress

  Text: Martin Hicklin / Depression, stress, and burnout are often accompanied by poor sleep. Analysis of brain patterns and hormonal tests offer a path to improved treatments.

• 
  Dossier

  Premature babies have trouble sleeping – a problem that can continue later in life

  Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Psychologists at the University of Basel are currently conducting a longitudinal study to investigate whether the sleep of people born prematurely differs in later life from that of their peers.

• 
  Dossier

  Later start to the school day, more alert children

  Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Children and adolescents have long known it: If school starts later in the morning, they feel more rested and fitter. Even a small shift in school hours makes a difference, as psychologists at the University of Basel have discovered. Their findings have had consequences.

• Dossier

  Self-confident adolescents sleep better

  Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / About one-fifth of adolescents say that they sleep badly. A psychologist from the University of Basel has been investigating the reasons for this for some years and is looking for solutions. He also has a few tips for parents.

• 
  Dossier

  Nightly respiratory arrest

  Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Heavy snoring accompanied by interruptions in breathing can lead to serious health problems. In Basel, pulmonologists are investigating the mechanisms that put constant stress on snorers suffering from sleep apnea. Possible therapeutic approaches are also being identified.

• Dossier

  The 25-hour man

  Text: Oliver Klaffke / Each person’s wake-sleep rhythm is calibrated at 24 hours. In Basel, scientists are studying a man for whom the mechanism does not work. This is providing them with new insights into human chronobiology.

• 
  In conversation

  “Who should be punished if a child is run over by a robotic car?”

  Interview: Urs Hafner / Legal academic Sabine Gless has touched a raw nerve. She argues that the law is not geared up to deal with robots that make decisions themselves – and may put people’s lives in danger.