Thomas A Wehr

Thomas Alvin Wehr, MD, scientist emeritus at the National Institute of Mental Health is a psychiatrist, research scientist, author, and former chief of the Clinical Psychobiology branch at NIMH.

Dr. Wehr conducted a study about photoperiodicity in humans.^[1] In the 1990s during a seminal^{[peacock term]} experiment,^[2] Wehr placed a group of normal volunteers in 14-hour dark periods each day for a month. He let the subjects sleep as much and as long as they wanted during the experiment. The first night, the subjects slept an average of 11 hours a night, probably repaying a chronic sleep debt. By the fourth week, the subjects slept an average of eight hours a night – but not consecutively. Instead, sleep seemed to be concentrated in two blocks. First, subjects tended to lie awake for one to two hours and then fall quickly asleep. Wehr found that the abrupt onset of sleep was linked to a spike in the hormone melatonin. Melatonin secretion by the brain’s pineal gland is switched on by darkness. After an average of three to five hours of solid sleep, the subjects would awaken and spend an hour or two of peaceful wakefulness before a second three- to five-hour sleep period. This bimodal pattern or segmented sleep was a rare glimpse into pre-historic natural human sleep.

Wehr and colleague Norman E. Rosenthal are credited with identifying and describing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and developing light therapy to treat it.^[3] Their research spawned an international field of study on SAD and related syndromes.

Wehr (and colleague Dr. Anna Wirz-Justice) were awarded the Anna-Monika Prize for their work in the chronobiology of depressive illness. The duo carried out the first sleep phase advance experiment in a bipolar patient.

Dr. Wehr's research into affective disorders, light and phototherapy, melatonin, antidepressants, SAD, sleep and circadian rhythms, resulted in a myriad of scholarly publications. Wehr's research and expertise in (Disorders of Excessive Somnolence; Mood Disorders including Bipolar and Depression; Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD); Sleep Deprivation & Disorders; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders) are cited in various journals, books, newspapers, and magazines.

Wehr co-authored "Circadian Rhythms in Psychiatry (Psychobiology and Psychopathology)" with Dr. Frederick Goodwin. In 1993, he wrote "How to Beat Jet Lag," (along with D.A.Oren, W. Reich, and N. Rosenthal).

Wehr received his degree in medicine from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1969. He subsequently completed his psychiatric residency at Yale School of Medicine and his internship at Michael Reese Hospital.

References

1. ^ Wehr (1992). "In short photoperiods, human sleep is biphasic". Journal of sleep research 1 (2): 103–107. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2869.1992.tb00019.x. PMID 10607034. 
2. ^ http://photos1.blogger.com/photoInclude/blogger/3716/526/1600/Wehr%20-%20summer%20and%20winter%20sleep.jpg^{[unreliable source?]}
3. ^ Ivry, Sarah (13 August 2002), "Seasonal Depression Can Accompany Summer Sun", The New York Times, Retrieved 14 April 2010

External links

• "Modern Life Suppresses an Ancient Body Rhythm," The New York Times, March 14, 1995
• Various Articles, The American Journal of Psychiatry
• Various Articles, The New York Times
• Various Interviews, National Public Radio (NPR)
• "Circadian Sleep Disorders," Nightline, February 21, 1996
• "Body Clocks," The Infinite Mind, February 20, 2008
• Science Magazine
• Circadian Rhythms in Psychiatry (Psychobiology and psychopathology)
• How to Beat Jet Lag: A Practical Guide for Air Travelers

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Name	Wehr, Thomas A
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