Event Description
Have you ever wondered what’s happening in your brain when you’re asleep? While your dreams take your mind far away to a new reality, your physical body is undergoing a symphony of complex and fascinating physiological processes that are essential for maintaining top physical and mental health.
While there are many remaining mysteries surrounding the function of sleep and dreams, and how these are governed by the brain and nervous system, recent years have seen vast scientific progress. Using state-of-the-art tools in neuroimaging and Brain Computer Interfaces, we now understand more than ever before about how factors such as light, movement, and daytime experiences affect the quality and characteristics of our sleep. In this talk, Dr Kathy Ruddy will guide you through the current cutting-edge science behind sleep and dreaming, drawing upon her own research experience as a Neuroscientist and involvement in experiments conducted recording brain waves from healthy people sleeping.
About Kathy Ruddy
Dr. Kathy Ruddy is a neuroscientist specialising in brain stimulation and Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) to enhance neurophysiological functions. She earned her PhD in Motor Neuroscience from Queen’s University Belfast and conducted postdoctoral research at ETH Zürich and Trinity College Dublin, where she founded a translational brain health lab. Her accolades include being named Irish Researcher of the Year by the Irish Research Council and winning early career awards from both Neuroscience Ireland and the Psychological Society of Ireland. Currently, Dr. Ruddy is a Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, where she teaches Neuropsychology and continues her research on brain health.