Besedovsky Lab

Sleep is a fundamental but still mysterious physiological state that makes up around 1/3 of our lives. Although it is quite intuitive that sleep is important to stay healthy and to recover from sickness, scientific evidence for these notions is still relatively scarce. In our group, we aim to scrutinize the role of sleep for human health in general and for the immune system in particular. We are especially interested to study how sleep modulates the development of immunological memory, the process providing protection after vaccination or natural infections. We also investigate the underlying mechanisms of the influence of sleep on the immune system and focus hereby on the role of various mediators, such as hormones that are released in a sleep-dependent fashion. Furthermore, we explore methods to enhance sleep in order to foster its effects on the endocrine and immune systems. In addition, our group investigates the effects of sleep on (cognitive) memory and other neurobehavioral functions. In this context, we are also interested to understand the interaction between sleep, cognitive functions, and the immune system. We mainly conduct highly controlled experimental studies in humans and also consider circadian aspects as well as inter-individual differences in our research.