Anne Skeldon (University of Surrey)

Mathematical Modelling of the Sleep-wake Cycle: Light, Clocks and Societal Rhythms

We’re all familiar with sleep, but how can we mathematically model it? And what determines how long and when we sleep? In this talk I’ll introduce the non-smooth coupled oscillator systems that form the basis of current models of sleep-wake regulation and discuss their dynamical behaviour. I will describe how we have used models to inform debates on societal questions such as whether to move school start time for adolescents and whether or not countries should move to permanent daylight saving time.