Stuart Fogel, PhD

Stuart Fogel 

Senior Scientist
Director of Sleep Neuroscience  

Research Focus 

Our goal is to decode the physiological signals of the brain that support memory, cognition, behaviour and mental health across different states of consciousness. Despite continued research to characterize the features of sleep and its underlying physiological processes, the functions of sleep have remained largely enigmatic. The focus of our research is to investigate one of the dominant hypotheses in the field: that one of the primary functions of sleep is for memory consolidation; the process of forming enduring memory traces. 

Affiliations 

Full Professor, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa 

A Point of Pride  

I helped lead the discovery that bursts of brain activity during sleep are associated with overnight enhancement of newly formed memory, and are an electrophysiological marker of intellectual abilities.  

How I am Working to Make a Difference for Those Living with Mental Illness 

My research has advanced knowledge of the functions of sleep, the importance of good sleep for healthy aging, and how better sleep can lead to improved memory, daytime and academic performance, and protect against cognitive aging.