Thomas A Wehr - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Thomas Alvin Wehr, MD, scientist emeritus at the National Institute of Mental Health

National Institute of Mental Health

The National Institute of Mental Health is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health...

is a psychiatrist, research scientist, author, and former chief of the Clinical Psychobiology branch at NIMH.

Dr. Wehr conducted a study about photoperiodicity in humans. In the 1990s during a seminal experiment, Wehr placed a group of normal volunteers in 14-hour dark periods each day for a month. He let the subjects sleep as much and as long as they wanted during the experiment. The first night, the subjects slept an average of 11 hours a night, probably repaying a chronic sleep debt

Sleep debt

Sleep debt or sleep deficit is the cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep. A large sleep debt may lead to mental and/or physical fatigue....

. By the fourth week, the subjects slept an average of eight hours a night but not consecutively. Instead, sleep seemed to be concentrated in two blocks. First, subjects tended to lie awake for one to two hours and then fall quickly asleep. Wehr found that the abrupt onset of sleep was linked to a spike in the hormone melatonin

Melatonin

Melatonin , also known chemically as N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, is a naturally occurring compound found in animals, plants, and microbes...

. Melatonin secretion by the brain’s pineal gland

Pineal gland

The pineal gland is a small endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain. It produces the serotonin derivative melatonin, a hormone that affects the modulation of wake/sleep patterns and seasonal functions...

is switched on by darkness. After an average of three to five hours of solid sleep, the subjects would awaken and spend an hour or two of peaceful wakefulness before a second three- to five-hour sleep period. This bimodal pattern or segmented sleep

Segmented sleep

Segmented sleep, also known as divided sleep, bimodal sleep pattern, or interrupted sleep, is a polyphasic or biphasic sleep pattern where two or more periods of sleep are punctuated by a period of wakefulness....

was a rare glimpse into pre-historic natural human sleep.

Wehr and colleague Norman E. Rosenthal

Norman E. Rosenthal

Norman E. Rosenthal is a psychiatrist and scientist who in the 1980s first described winter depression or seasonal affective disorder , and pioneered the use of light therapy for its treatment....

are credited with identifying and describing Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seasonal affective disorder

Seasonal affective disorder , also known as winter depression, winter blues, summer depression, summer blues, or seasonal depression, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or summer, spring or autumn...

(SAD) and developing light therapy

Light therapy

Light therapy or phototherapy consists of exposure to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using lasers, light-emitting diodes, fluorescent lamps, dichroic lamps or very bright, full-spectrum light, usually controlled with various devices...

to treat it. Their research spawned an international field of study on SAD and related syndromes.

Wehr (and colleague Dr. Anna Wirz-Justice) were awarded the Anna-Monika Prize for their work in the chronobiology

Chronobiology

Chronobiology is a field of biology that examines periodic phenomena in living organisms and their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms. These cycles are known as biological rhythms. Chronobiology comes from the ancient Greek χρόνος , and biology, which pertains to the study, or science,...

of depressive illness. The duo carried out the first sleep phase advance

Delayed sleep phase syndrome

Delayed sleep-phase syndrome , also known as delayed sleep-phase disorder or delayed sleep-phase type , is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder, a chronic disorder of the timing of sleep, peak period of alertness, the core body temperature rhythm, hormonal and other daily rhythms, compared to the...

experiment in a bipolar

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...

patient.

Dr. Wehr's research into affective disorders, light and phototherapy, melatonin, antidepressant

Antidepressant

An antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia and anxiety disorders such as social anxiety disorder. According to Gelder, Mayou &*Geddes people with a depressive illness will experience a therapeutic effect to their mood;...

s, SAD, sleep and circadian rhythm

Circadian rhythm

A circadian rhythm, popularly referred to as body clock, is an endogenously driven , roughly 24-hour cycle in biochemical, physiological, or behavioural processes. Circadian rhythms have been widely observed in plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria...

s, resulted in a myriad of scholarly publications. Wehr's research and expertise in (Disorders of Excessive Somnolence; Mood Disorders including Bipolar and Depression; Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD); Sleep Deprivation & Disorders; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders) are cited in various journals, books, newspapers, and magazines.

Wehr co-authored "Circadian Rhythms in Psychiatry (Psychobiology and Psychopathology)" with Dr. Frederick Goodwin

Frederick K. Goodwin

Frederick K. Goodwin is a psychiatrist and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at George Washington University where he is also director of the Center on Neuroscience, Medical Progress, and Society. He is a specialist in bipolar disorder and recurrent depression.Goodwin received his M.D. from St...

. In 1993, he wrote "How to Beat Jet Lag," (along with D.A.Oren, W. Reich, and N. Rosenthal).

Wehr received his degree in medicine from the University of Louisville

University of Louisville

The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...

School of Medicine in 1969. He subsequently completed his psychiatric residency at Yale School of Medicine

Yale School of Medicine

The Yale School of Medicine at Yale University is a private medical school located in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. It was founded in 1810 as The Medical Institution of Yale College, and formally opened its doors in 1813....

and his internship at Michael Reese Hospital

Michael Reese Hospital

Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center was an American hospital founded in 1881. In its heyday, it was a major research and teaching hospital and one of the oldest and largest hospitals in Chicago, Illinois. It was located on the near south side of Chicago, next to Lake Shore Drive Michael...

External links

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