William C. Dement

Bio: William C. Dement is an academic researcher from Stanford University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Non-rapid eye movement sleep & Narcolepsy. The author has an hindex of 96, co-authored 340 publications receiving 43014 citations. Previous affiliations of William C. Dement include University of California, Irvine & Brown University.

Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine

Abstract: 1. Normal Sleep and Its Variations History Of Sleep Physiology And Medicine Normal Human Sleep: An Overview Normal Ageing Daytime Sleepiness And Alertness Sleep Deprivation Phylogeny Of Sleep Regulation Mammalian Sleep 2. Sleep Mechanisms Brain Electrical Activity And Sensory Processing During Waking And Sleep States Brainstem Mechanisms Generating REM Sleep Basic Mechanisms Of Sleep-Wake States Control Of Motoneurons During Sleep 3. Physiology in Sleep Physiological Regulation in Sleep Cardiovascular Physiology: Central and Autonomic Regulation Cardiovascular Physiology: The Peripheral Circulation Respiratory Physiology: Central Neural Control Respiratory Physiology: Control of Ventilation Respiratory Physiology: Breathing in Normal Subjects Respiratory Physiology: Sleep at High Altitudes Host Defense Endocrine Physiology Gastrointestinal Physiology Temperature Regulation **Sleep-related Penile Erections 4. Chronobiology Introduction: Chronobiology Circadian Rhythms in Mammals: Formal Properties and Environmental Influences Anatomy and Physiology of the Mammalian Circadian System Molecular Genetic Basis for Mammalian Circadian System The Human Circadian Timing System and Sleep-Wake Regulation **Sleep Homeostasis and Models of Sleep Regulation Circadian Rhythms in Fatigue, Alertness and Performance Melatonin in the Regulations of Sleep & Circadian Rhythms 5. Pharmacology Hypnotics: Basic Mechanisms and Pharmacology Hypnotics: Efficacy and Adverse Effects Stimulants: Basic Mechanisms and Pharmacology Stimulants: Efficacy and Adverse Effects Drugs Which Disturb Sleep and Wakefulness 6. Psychobiology and Dreaming Approaches to the Study of Dream Content: Methods Measures

Quantification of sleepiness: a new approach.

Abstract: The Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) is a self-rating scale which is used to quantify progressive steps in sleepiness. The present study investigated whether the SSS cross-validates with performance on mental tasks and whether the SSS demonstrates changes in sleepiness with sleep loss. Five college student Ss were given a brief test of memory and the Wilkinson Addition Test in 2 test sessions and The Wilkinson Vigilance Test in 2 other sessions spaced throughout a 16-hr day for 6 days. Ss made SSS ratings every 15 min during their waking activities. On night 4, Ss underwent all night sleep deprivation. On all other nights, Ss were allowed only 8 hrs in bed. Mean SSS ratings correlated r= .68 with performance on the Wilkinson Tests. Discrete SSS ratings correlated r= .47 with performance on the memory test. Moreover, mean baseline SSS ratings were found to be significantly lower than corresponding ratings of the deprivation period.

Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: GOLD executive summary.

Abstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a major public health problem. It is the fourth leading cause of chronic morbidity and mortality in the United States, and is projected to rank fifth in 2020 in burden of disease worldwide, according to a study published by the World Bank/World Health Organization. Yet, COPD remains relatively unknown or ignored by the public as well as public health and government officials. In 1998, in an effort to bring more attention to COPD, its management, and its prevention, a committed group of scientists encouraged the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the World Health Organization to form the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Among the important objectives of GOLD are to increase awareness of COPD and to help the millions of people who suffer from this disease and die prematurely of it or its complications. The first step in the GOLD program was to prepare a consensus report, Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of COPD, published in 2001. The present, newly revised document follows the same format as the original consensus report, but has been updated to reflect the many publications on COPD that have appeared. GOLD national leaders, a network of international experts, have initiated investigations of the causes and prevalence of COPD in their countries, and developed innovative approaches for the dissemination and implementation of COPD management guidelines. We appreciate the enormous amount of work the GOLD national leaders have done on behalf of their patients with COPD. Despite the achievements in the 5 years since the GOLD report was originally published, considerable additional work is ahead of us if we are to control this major public health problem. The GOLD initiative will continue to bring COPD to the attention of governments, public health officials, health care workers, and the general public, but a concerted effort by all involved in health care will be necessary.

A new method for measuring daytime sleepiness: the Epworth sleepiness scale.

Abstract: The development and use of a new scale, the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), is described. This is a simple, self-administered questionnaire which is shown to provide a measurement of the subject's general level of daytime sleepiness. One hundred and eighty adults answered the ESS, including 30 normal men and women as controls and 150 patients with a range of sleep disorders. They rated the chances that they would doze off or fall asleep when in eight different situations commonly encountered in daily life. Total ESS scores significantly distinguished normal subjects from patients in various diagnostic groups including obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia. ESS scores were significantly correlated with sleep latency measured during the multiple sleep latency test and during overnight polysomnography. In patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome ESS scores were significantly correlated with the respiratory disturbance index and the minimum SaO2 recorded overnight. ESS scores of patients who simply snored did not differ from controls.

The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance.

Abstract: because observed behavior is the result of interactions between environmental factors and genes during the extended period of development. Therefore, to better understand expert and exceptional performance, we must require that the account specify the different environmental factors that could selectively promote and facilitate the achievement of such performance. In addition, recent research on expert performance and expertise (Chi, Glaser, & Farr, 1988; Ericsson & Smith, 1991a) has shown that important characteristics of experts' superior performance are acquired through experience and that the effect of practice on performance is larger than earlier believed possible. For this reason, an account of exceptional performance must specify the environmental circumstances, such as the duration and structure of activities, and necessary minimal biological attributes that lead to the acquisition of such characteristics and a corresponding level of performance. An account that explains how a majority of individuals can attain a given level of expert performance might seem inherently unable to explain the exceptional performance of only a small number of individuals. However, if such an empirical account could be empirically supported, then the extreme characteristics of experts could be viewed as having been acquired through learning and adaptation, and studies of expert performance could provide unique insights into the possibilities and limits of change in cognitive capacities and bodily functions. In this article we propose a theoretical framework that explains expert performance in terms of acquired characteristics resulting from extended deliberate practice and that limits the role of innate (inherited) characteristics to general levels of activity and emotionality. We provide empirical support from two new studies and from already published evidence on expert performance in many different domains.