Читать книгу Sleep: The secret to sleeping well and waking refreshed - Prof. Idzikowski Chris - Страница 12

Progress in sleep studies changed significantly when it was found that the brain’s activity could be measured objectively. Here is a summary of the main findings that led to this discovery.

• In the 19th century, British researcher Richard Caton measured the brain’s electrical activity by placing sensors on to the scalp’s surface. He noted that the activity was not constant but increases and decreases over time.

• In the late 1920s, German psychiatrist Hans Berger measured brain activity in the belief that it would help him to calculate psychical energy. Largely discredited, he tragically committed suicide. However, his work on measuring the electrical activity of the brain was pivotal in the development of sleep research.