Ongoing Research

Our focus is on understanding how sleep and sleep loss maintains or disrupts the underlying brain networks responsible for cognitive, emotional, and memory processing, and translate this knowledge into novel and effective sleep-based therapeutic interventions.

  • Coming Soon: 5-Year COVID Anniversary Follow up

    In spring 2025, we will launch an online study to examine the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being, focusing on mental and physical health over time. By gathering data from diverse participants, we aim to understand the long-term effects on sleep, cognition, and life satisfaction, contributing to insights on the pandemic's lasting effects on society.

  • Election Stress, Sleep, and Well-Being

    We recently completed an online study to investigate the impact of election stress on sleep and overall well-being. Participants shared their experiences and insights, and we are now analyzing this data to help us understand how political events influence mental health and sleep quality.

  • Sleep Loss, Emotion, and Memory Processing

    In this study, we are investigating the disparate and overlapping impacts of sleep loss, recovery sleep, and circadian rhythms on the perception, consolidation, and retention of emotional and neutral information.

  • Stimulation to Enhance Sleep

    This research, funded by the SRSF, is exploring the utility of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during sleep to enhance slow-wave sleep in healthy controls and patients with Schizophrenia as a potential non-invasive intervention to improve sleep and cognitive performance.

  • Sleep Loss, Insomnia, & Emotion Regulation

    In this study, we are investigating how chronic sleep loss affects the neural and behavioral signatures of emotion regulation in healthy individuals and patients with insomnia. (funded by NIMH K23)

Research from Our Peers

Our research is only a small slice of what is being done in the field of sleep, cognition, and emotion. Below, we highlight some of our favorite studies from colleagues around the world.

  • Optimizing the methodology of human sleep and memory research

    This Dec 2023 publication in Nature Reviews gleans from the expertise of a host of prominent sleep and memory researchers describing many of the challenges the field, especially in the face of contradictory findings and failures to replicate, and suggestions for methodological improvements moving forward.

  • The Effects of Sleep Loss on Human Helping

    In this innovative report, preliminary evidence across 3 replicating studies at 3 different scales (within individuals, across individuals, and across societies), suggest that sleep loss negatively influences whether humans choose to help each other. The authors discuss how inadequate sleep may represent a previously unrecognized force influencing whether humans choose to help one another across levels of civilized interaction.

  • The effects of sleep loss on mood, emotion, and emotion regulation: three meta-analyses in one

    A systematic review and meta-analysis published in SLEEP describing the current understanding of the effects of different types of sleep loss (deprivation and restriction) on different forms of emotional processing. This work does an excellent job distinguishing between different types of emotional processing (mood, emotion reactivity, and emotion regulation)

Bob’s Book

Seeking a crash course on the history and contemporary theories on the function of dreams? In collaboration with colleague Dr. Antonio Zadra, Dr. Robert Stickgold presents our latest understanding of why we dream and their potential role in memory consolidation.

Dr. Stickgold When Brains Dream
When Brains Dream book reviews

Questions on the origins and meaning of dreams are as old as humankind and as confounding and exciting today as when 19th-century scientists first attempted to unravel them. Why do we dream? Do dreams hold psychological meaning, or are they merely the reflection of random brain activity? What purpose do dreams serve?

When Brains Dream addresses these core questions about dreams while illuminating the most up-to-date science in the field. Written by two world-renowned sleep and dream researchers, it debunks common myths while acknowledging the mysteries that persist around both the science and experience of dreaming.

Purchase it today from W. W. Norton & Co., Amazon, or your favorite local book store!


Frequent CfSC Collaborators

Original Research from the CfSC

We are excited to share a partial, growing list of the work that members of the Center for Sleep and Cognition team have led or contributed to over the last 20+ years of research practice.

Recent Lab Highlights:

Rodriguez-Seijas, C., McClendon, J., Wendt, D., Novacek, D., Ebalu, T., Hallion, L., Hassan, N., Huson, K., Spielmans, G., Folk, J., Khazem, L., Neblett, E., Cunningham, T. J., Hampton, J., Steinman, S., Hamilton, J., Mekawi, Y. (2023) The Next Generation of Clinical Psychological Science: Moving Toward Antiracism. Clinical Psychological Science PDF

Cunningham T. J., Stickgold R and Kensinger EA (2022) Investigating the effects of sleep and sleep loss on the different stages of episodic emotional memory: A narrative review and guide to the future. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 16:910317. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.910317 PDF

Cunningham, T. J., Kishore, D., Guo, M., Igue, M., Malhotra, A., Stickgold, R., & Djonlagic, I. (2022). The Effect of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Sleep-Dependent Emotional Memory Consolidation. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202204-315OC. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202204-315OC PDF

Cunningham, T. J., Fields, E.C., Denis, D., Bottary, R., Stickgold, R., & Kensinger, E.A. (2022). How the 2020 US Presidential election impacted sleep and its relationship to public mood and alcohol consumption. Sleep health, 8(6), 571–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2022.08.009. PDF


Sleep, Memory, and Cognition

Niu, X., Utayde, M. F., Sanders, K. E. G., Cunningham, T. J., Zhang, G., Kensinger, E. A., & Payne, J. D. (2024) The Effects of Shared, Depression-Specific, and Anxiety-Specific Internalizing Symptoms on Negative and Neutral Episodic Memories Following Post-Learning Sleep. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci  https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-024-01209-5 PDF

Song S. H., Cunningham T. J., Zhang, Y., Lizano, P., & Keshavan, M. S. (2024) Neuroscience in Pictures: 2. Sleep, Wakefulness, and Mental State Biology. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104070 PDF

Denis, D., Bottary, R., Cunningham, T.J., Drummond S.P.A., and Straus, L.D. (2023) Beta spectral power during sleep is associated with impaired recall of extinguished fear. Sleep, zsad209: https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad209 PDF

Denis, D., Bottary, R., Cunningham, T. J., Tcheukado, M. C., & Payne, J. D. (2023). The influence of encoding strategy on associative memory consolidation across wake and sleep. Learning & Memory, 30(9), 185-191. PDF

Ford, J.H., Fields, E.C., Garcia, S.M., Cunningham, T.J., Kensinger, E.A. (2023) Perceived event resolution--rather than time--allows older adults to reduce the negativity of their memories. Memory. DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2023.2166079 PDF Free E-Print

Daley, R. T., Kensinger, E.A., Cunningham, T.J., & Ford, J.H., (2023) Me, Myself, and Everyone Else: Potential impacts of episodic processes on national and personal memories. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. PDF

Cunningham T. J., Stickgold R and Kensinger EA (2022) Investigating the effects of sleep and sleep loss on the different stages of episodic emotional memory: A narrative review and guide to the future. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 16:910317. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.910317 PDF

Cunningham, T. J., Kishore, D., Guo, M., Igue, M., Malhotra, A., Stickgold, R., & Djonlagic, I. (2022). The Effect of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Sleep-Dependent Emotional Memory Consolidation. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202204-315OC. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202204-315OC PDF

Cunningham T.J.,* Bottary R,* Denis D, Payne JD. (2021) Sleep spectral power correlates of prospective memory maintenance. Learn Mem. 28(9):291-299 http://www.learnmem.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/ lm.053412.121, PMID: 34400530. PDF

Denis, D., Mylonas, D., Poskanzer, C., Bursal, V., Payne, J. D., & Stickgold, R. (2021). Sleep spindles preferentially consolidate weakly encoded memories. Journal of Neuroscience, 41(18), 4088-4099. PDF

Bottary, R., Kark, S., Daley, R., Denis, D., Cunningham, T. J., Payne, J. D., & Kensinger, E. A. (2021). Investigation of the Stress and Sleep Physiology Correlates of Next-Day Memory for Details of a Social Stressor Testing Environment. bioRxiv PDF

Cunningham, T. J., Mattingly, S. M., Tlatenchi, A., Wirth, M. M., Alger, S. E., Kensinger, E. A., & Payne, J. D. (2021). Higher post-encoding cortisol benefits the selective consolidation of emotional aspects of memory. Neurobiology of learning and memory, 180, 107411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107411, PMID: 33609737 PDF

Schapiro, A. C., Reid, A. G., Morgan, A., Manoach, D. S., Verfaellie, M., & Stickgold, R. (2019). The hippocampus is necessary for the consolidation of a task that does not require the hippocampus for initial learning. Hippocampus, 29(11), 1091-1100. PDF

Stickgold, R. (2015) Beyond Memory: The Benefits of Sleep. Scientific American, 313(4). LINK

Stickgold, R., & Walker, M. P. (2013). Sleep-dependent memory triage: evolving generalization through selective processing. Nature neuroscience, 16(2), 139-145. PDF

Tamminen, J., Payne, J. D., Stickgold, R., Wamsley, E. J., & Gaskell, M. G. (2010). Sleep spindle activity is associated with the integration of new memories and existing knowledge. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(43), 14356-14360. PDF

Stickgold, R. (2009) The Simplest Way to Reboot Your Brain. Harvard Business Review. LINK

Stickgold R. & Wehrwein, P (2009) Health for Life: The Link Between Sleep and Memory. Newsweek LINK

Stickgold, R. & Ellenbogen J. M. (2008) Sleep on It: How Snoozing Makes You Smarter. Scientific American. LINK

Payne, J. D., Stickgold, R., Swanberg, K., & Kensinger, E. A. (2008). Sleep preferentially enhances memory for emotional components of scenes. Psychological science, 19(8), 781-788. PDF

Stickgold, R., & Walker, M. P. (2007). Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and reconsolidation. Sleep medicine, 8(4), 331-343. PDF

Walker, M. P., & Stickgold, R. (2006). Sleep, memory, and plasticity. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 57, 139-166. PDF

Ellenbogen, J. M., Hulbert, J. C., Stickgold, R., Dinges, D. F., & Thompson-Schill, S. L. (2006). Interfering with theories of sleep and memory: sleep, declarative memory, and associative interference. Current Biology, 16(13), 1290-1294. PDF

Stickgold, R. (2005). Sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Nature, 437(7063), 1272-1278. PDF

Stickgold, R., & Walker, M. P. (2005). Memory consolidation and reconsolidation: what is the role of sleep?. Trends in neurosciences, 28(8), 408-415. PDF

Walker, M. P., & Stickgold, R. (2004). Sleep-dependent learning and memory consolidation. Neuron, 44(1), 121-133. PDF


Sleep in Psychiatric Populations

Wieman ST, Hall KA, Park ER, Gorman MJ, Comander A, Goldstein MR, Cunningham, T. J., Mizrach HR, Juhel B, Li R, Markowitz A, Grandner M, Liverant GI, Hall DL. (2023). Treatment-related changes in insomnia, anticipatory pleasure, and depression symptoms: A proof-of-concept study with cancer survivors. Sleep Medicine. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2023.01.011   PDF

Hall, D. L. Arditte Hall, K. A, Gorman, M. J., Comander, A., Goldstein, M. R., Cunningham, T. J., Wieman, S., Mizrach, H.R., Juhel, B., Li, R.  Markowitz, A., Grandner, M.; Park E. R. (2021). The Survivorship Sleep Program (SSP): A Synchronous, Virtual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Pilot Program among Cancer Survivors. Cancer   PDF

Denis D.,*, Bottary R.,* Cunningham, T. J., Zeng, S., Daffre, C., Oliver K. L., Moore K., Gazecki S., Mendelsohn A. K., Martinez U., Pace-Schott, E. F. (2021) Sleep Power Spectral Density and Spindles in PTSD and their Relationship to Symptom Severity. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 766647.   PDF

Cunningham, T. J. & Bowman, M.A. (2019). The darkest hours: McCarthy et al. (2019) report increased risk for suicide from midnight to 3 am for US veterans and civilians. Sleep, 43(2), zsz258, PMID: 31634911 PDF


Sleep and Dreaming

*Bob’s Book* Zadra, A., & Stickgold, R. (2021). When brains dream: Understanding the science and mystery of our dreaming minds. WW Norton & Company.

Cunningham, T.J. (2023) The Next Step in Understanding the Function of Dreams. SLEEP.   PDF

Stickgold, R., & Zadra, A. (2021). Sleep: Opening a portal to the dreaming brain. Current Biology, 31(7), R352-R353. PDF

Haar Horowitz A, Cunningham T. J., Maes P, Stickgold R. (2020). Dormio: A targeted dream incubation device. Consciousness and Cognition, 83, PMID: 32480292  PDF

Hobson, J. A., Pace-Schott, E. F., & Stickgold, R. (2000). Dreaming and the brain: toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states. Behavioral and brain sciences, 23(6), 793-842. PDF


Physiology of Sleep and Sleep Loss

Mullington, J., Cunningham, T.J, Haack, M., & Yang H. (2021) Causes and consequences of chronic sleep deficiency and the role of orexin. In M.A Steiner, M. Yanagisawa, M. Clozel, (Eds.), The Orexin System. Basic Science and Role in Sleep Pathology, Front Neurol Neurosci. Basel, Karger, vol 45, pp 128–138, PMID: 34052807.   PDF

Fultz, N. E., Bonmassar, G., Setsompop, K., Stickgold, R. A., Rosen, B. R., Polimeni, J. R., & Lewis, L. D. (2019). Coupled electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and cerebrospinal fluid oscillations in human sleep. Science, 366(6465), 628-631. PDF


Sleep and Mental Health Equity

Rodriguez-Seijas, C., McClendon, J., Wendt, D., Novacek, D., Ebalu, T., Hallion, L., Hassan, N., Huson, K., Spielmans, G., Folk, J., Khazem, L., Neblett, E., Cunningham, T. J., Hampton, J., Steinman, S., Hamilton, J., Mekawi, Y. (Accepted) The Next Generation of Clinical Psychological Science: Moving Toward Antiracism. Clinical Psychological Science   PDF


Circadian Rhythms and Social Determinants of Sleep

Cunningham, T. J., Fields, E.C., Denis, D., Bottary, R., Stickgold, R., & Kensinger, E.A. (2022). How the 2020 US Presidential election impacted sleep and its relationship to public mood and alcohol consumption. Sleep health, 8(6), 571–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2022.08.009.   PDF

Bottary, R., Fields, E.C., Ugheoke, L., Denis, D., Mullington, J. M., & Cunningham, T. J. (2023) Changes in Sleep Regularity and Perceived Life Stress across the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Analysis of a Predominately Female United States Convenience Sample. Clocks & Sleep ; 5(1):1-9. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep5010001   PDF 

Bottary, R., Fields, E.C., Kensinger, E.A., & Cunningham, T. J. (2021). Age and chronotype influence sleep timing changes during the first-wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Sleep Research. PMID: 34608693   PDF

Bottary, R., Cunningham, T.J., Spencer, R., & Pace-Schott, E. (2020). Social Jetlag is Independently Associated with Chronotype and Poor Memory for Extinguished Fear. Experimental Results, 1, E22. doi:10.1017/exp.2020.26   PDF


Sleep and Emotional Well-Being during COVID-19

Liu, S., Wang, L. X., Chen, M. S., Cao, H., Cunningham, T. J., & Joormann, J. (2024). Sleep bad, feel bad: Unpacking the role of exercise and socializing. Behaviour research and therapy, 183, 104652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104652 PDF

Cho, I., Cunningham, T. J., Daley, R. T., Kensinger, E. A., & Gutchess, A. (2023). Empathy, Memory, and Aging During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 100105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2023.100105 PDF

Bottary, R., Fields, E.C., Ugheoke, L., Denis, D., Mullington, J. M., & Cunningham, T. J. (2023) Changes in Sleep Regularity and Perceived Life Stress across the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Analysis of a Predominately Female United States Convenience Sample. Clocks & Sleep ; 5(1):1-9. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep5010001   PDF 

Drummond, S. P. A,, Wiley, J. F., Boardman, J. M., Aidman, E., Kensinger, E. A., & Cunningham, T. J. (2023). Trait-level cognitive and psychological factors associated with longitudinal resilience to sleep disturbance under chronic stress. Sleep, 46(1), zsac249.. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac249   PDF

Daley, R. T., Cunningham, T. J., Kensinger, E. A. (2022) Moral decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with age, negative affect, and negative memory. Front. Psychol. 13:974933. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.974933   PDF

Cunningham, T.J., Bottary, R., & Kensinger E. A. (2022). Society’s responses to the pandemic may have triggered one benefit: Reduced competition for sleep. Sleep Research Society Public Education Papers.  https://sleepresearchsociety.org/publications/public-education-papers/   PDF

Fields, E.C., Kensinger, E.A., Garcia, S.M., Ford, J.H., & Cunningham, T. J. (2022). With age comes well-being: Older age associated with lower stress, negative affect, and depression throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Aging and Mental Health   PDF

Bottary, R., Fields, E.C., Kensinger, E.A., & Cunningham, T. J. (2021). Age and chronotype influence sleep timing changes during the first-wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Sleep Research. PMID: 34608693   PDF

Cho I, Daley RT, Cunningham T.J., Kensinger EA, & Gutchess A. (2021) Aging, Empathy, and Prosocial Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. PMID: 34320179.   PDF

Ford, J., Garcia, S. M., Fields, E. C., Cunningham, T. J., & Kensinger, E. A. (2021). Older adults remember more positive aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychol Aging. (6):694-699. doi: 10.1037/pag0000636. PMID: 34516173; PMCID: PMC8442960.   PDF

Cunningham, T.J., Fields, E.C. & Kensinger, E.A. (2021) Boston College daily sleep and well-being survey data during early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sci Data 8, 110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00886-y, PMID: 33863920   PDF

Cunningham T.J., Fields EC, Garcia SM, & Kensinger EA. (2021) The relation between age and experienced stress, worry, affect, and depression during the spring 2020 phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Emotion. PMID: 34138584.   PDF

Rodriguez-Seijas, C., Fields, E. C., Bottary, R., Kark, S., Goldstein, M., Kensinger, E. A., & Payne, J. D. & Cunningham, T. J. (2020). Comparing the Impact of COVID-19-Related Social Distancing on Mood and Psychiatric Indicators in Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) and Non-SGM Individuals. Frontiers in Psychiatry 11, 590318. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.590318, PMID: 33414732   PDF

Bottary, R., Simonelli, G., Cunningham, T. J., Kensinger, E. A., & Mantua, J. (2020). Sleep extension: an explanation for increased pandemic dream recall?. Sleep, 43(11), zsaa131. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaa131, PMID: 32886777   PDF

*Shared first authorship on work