Takashi Abe

Affiliation:International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba

Research Title

Human sleep

Understanding how sleep and sleepiness relate to the human mind and behavior

01 Research Summary

Our laboratory studies human sleep and sleepiness in the fields of behavioral science, psychophysiology, and neuroscience. Currently, we are conducting research on three main topics: (1) understanding sleepiness, (2) understanding the psychological functions of sleep, and (3) developing novel methods for measuring sleep and wakefulness. (1) Understanding sleepiness: It is well known that sleep loss causes fluctuations in response times. This phenomenon is called “state instability.” However, the neural and physiological basis of state instability is not yet fully understood. We are conducting studies to elucidate the characteristics of state instability and the neural and physiological basis of this phenomenon. In addition, we are also investigating the factors that determine “sleepiness” that cannot be explained by conventional sleep-wake models. (2) Understanding the psychological functions of sleep: This research is being conducted in order to understand the psychological functions of human sleep. In particular, we are investigating the psychological effects of sleep intervention by administering stimuli during sleep. (3) Developing novel methods for measuring sleep and wakefulness: Currently, sleep and wakefulness are measured with electroencephalography and performance tests. We are developing objective and unobtrusive methods to more easily measure sleep and wakefulness.

Link
Abe Laboratory

Abe Laboratory

02 Major achievements

Abe, T., Ogawa, K., Nittono, H., & Hori, T. Neural generators of brain potentials before rapid eye movements during human REM sleep: A study using sLORETA. Clinical Neurophysiology, 119, 2044-2053. 2008.

Abe, T., Nonomura, T., Komada, Y., Asaoka, S., Sasai, T., Ueno, A., Inoue, Y. Detecting deteriorated vigilance using percentage of eyelid closure time during behavioral maintenance of wakefulness tests. International Journal of Psychophysiology. 82, 269-274. 2011.

Goel,N.,* Abe,T.,* Braun, M.E., Dinges,D.F. Cognitive Workload and Sleep Restriction Interact to Influence Sleep Homeostatic Responses. SLEEP. 37(11),1745-1756. 2014. (*Co-first authors)

03 Education/Academic background and major awards

Education/Academic background

200-2008 Research fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Hiroshima University)
2008-2010 Postdoctoral fellow, Japan Somnology Center, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan
2010-2013 Research fellow, Japan Somnology Center, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute
2011-2013 Postdoctoral fellow for Research Abroad, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Pennsylvania University School of Medicine)
2013-2016 Aerospace project research associate, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
2016-2017 Senior researcher, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
2017- Associate professor, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine(WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba

Awards

2004 Young Scientist Award Creative Research Award, The 15th World Congress of the International Society of Brain Electromagnetic Topography
2009 The 14th Encouraging Prize of Japanese Society of Sleep Research
2011 Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Welfare Foundation Award
2012 The 17th Encouraging Prize of Japanese Society of Sleep Research