The Sleep Monitoring Lab, directed by Rebecca Spencer, is part of the Human Testing Center within the Life Science Laboratories. It houses three bedrooms and a central control room for observing sleeping participants. To measure sleep, the Lab uses polysomnography (PSG), a montage of recordings of brain through electroencephalography (EEG), eye movements through electrooculography (EOG), and muscle activity through electromyography (EMG). A person’s heart rhythm can also be recorded using an electrocardiogram (EKG). This combination of information allows researchers to characterize sleep into one of four stages: non-REM stages 1, 2, 3 and REM (rapid eye movement).
Amanda Hamel is absolutely thrilled to be joining the PBS faculty next Fall to teach Behavioral Neuroscience and to coordinate the Junior Writing program. Amanda is a UMass alumna whose research focused on the effects of early experience on the development of different components of the stress response. She has previously taught Behavioral Neuroscience through Continuing and Professional Education and sections of Junior Writing at UMas
Danielle Samuels received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of California, Riverside in 2018. Her research focuses on the development of internalizing problems across the transition from childhood to adolescence. Specifically, she is interested in the roles of puberty and sociocultural factors in explaining the emergence and changes in anxiety and depression during this transition period.
The Sleep Monitoring Lab, directed by 
A feature story about how cooking and eating together can help overcome social and cultural differences includes comments from 
Jennifer M. McDermott
The National Register of Health Service Psychologists has presented the 2018 Judy E. Hall Early Career Psychologist Award to 
A new study by 
"Schools remain one of the few social institutions that have the potential to bring youth together across racial and ethnic lines. New social science research demonstrates the importance of fostering sustained interracial contact between youth in order to prepare them to thrive in a multiracial society.