It's been overlooked for a long time as a real public health problem. All of western society is a little bit sleep-deprived, and when I say a little bit, I mean chronically.
I won't start quite at the beginning... but the emigration of my parents from Nazi Germany and their new life in the U.S.A. A one sentence summary of these events is that after some years of trouble and considerable hard work, my parents established a satisfactory if not comfortable life for themselves and their two children.
The circadian neurons are one of the few circuits in neurobiology where we have a chance to understand at multiple levels how different sets of neurons communicate with each other - including understanding the wiring rules, the biochemical rules, and the functional behavioral rules.
We benefited from an enlightened post-war period in the United States: Our National Institutes of Health have enthusiastically and generously supported basic research.
