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UA researcher Richard Bootzin shares the latest advances on how to get a good night's sleep during the next Science Café on Nov. 11.

By Sam Kane, Flandrau: The UA Science Center
November 5, 2008

Flandrau: The University of Arizona Science Center is holding its next Science Café at Cushing Street Bar & Restaurant in downtown Tucson on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m.

Dr. Richard Bootzin, professor of psychology and psychiatry and director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the UA, will deliver a brief talk titled, "We All Sleep, But Why? Advances in the Treatment of Insomnia."

The Science Café is a casual forum for people to meet and discuss a particular science topic with a UA scientist in the relaxed atmosphere of a local restaurant.

This month's forum will address the function of sleep and the immediate and long-term consequences of not getting enough sleep such as:

• Can the sleepiness that follows sleep deprivation be prevented?
• Can the effects of jet lag be reduced?
• Can chronic sleep disturbance be treated?

These and other topics about sleep will be discussed by Bootzin, who is one of the pioneers in behavioral treatments of insomnia.

Bootzin developed stimulus control instructions for insomnia, which remains one of the most effective single treatments for insomnia – receiving the highest standard-of-practice rating from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

His research interests include the understanding and treatment of insomnia and sleep disturbance, sleep and cognition and conceptual and methodological issues involved in developing effective psychological interventions.

He is author or editor of 12 books and more than 175 articles and chapters. His textbooks, including "Abnormal Psychology: Current Perspectives," have influenced a generation of students. 

Bootzin teaches a popular Sleep and Sleep Disorders course at the UA and mentors undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in his Sleep Research Laboratory. He also supervises clinical psychology externs and interns at the University Medical Center's Insomnia Clinic.

The public is invited to learn how to get a better night sleep and to understand why sleep is important.

Shipherd Reed will moderate the discussion, which will conclude by 7:30 p.m. Following the program, audience members will have the opportunity to submit discussion topic ideas for subsequent Science Café events.

Cushing Street Bar & Restaurant is located on the corner of Cushing Street and Meyer Avenue in downtown Tucson, across the street from the Tucson Convention Center. Complimentary, lighted, on-site parking is available on the east side of the restaurant.