title: History of sleep medicine.
abstract: Sleeping and dreaming always have been a fundamental part of human existence. Most early writing on these subjects was almost entirely speculation. During the twentieth century, however, scientific observation and experimentation abounded. This article emphasizes the evolution of the key concepts and research findings that characterize sleep research and sleep medicine, crucial discoveries and developments in the formative years of the field, and those principles and practices that have stood the test of time.
authors.affiliation: Stanford Sleep Disorders and Research Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. grissom@stanford.edu
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Dement
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D002909:Chronobiology Phenomena; D004325:Dreams; D004569:Electroencephalography; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012895:Sleep, REM