Dr. Robert Stickgold

Dr. Robert Stickgold

Bob Stickgold is a native of Chicago. He attended college at Harvard University, and received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He is a Full Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and was the founder and served as the Director of Harvard's Center for Sleep and Cognition for 20 years. He is the author of numerous scientific articles, as well as two science fiction novels, and his work is frequently cited in both leading scientific journals and the popular press.

View past media appearances by Dr. Robert Stickgold, Dr. Tony Cunningham, and personnel from the Center for Sleep and Cognition.

Education

  • B.A. in Biochemistry | Harvard University

  • M.S. in Biochemistry | University of Wisconsin, Madison

  • Ph.D. in Biochemistry | University of Wisconsin, Madison

  • Postdoc Neurochemistry | Stanford Univ. School of Medicine

  • Postdoc Neurophysiology | Harvard Medical School

Appointments

  • 1979-1982 Ass’t Professor | Physiology | University of Massachusetts Medical School

  • 1982-1990 Educational software designer and project manager in the private sector 

  • 1990-1993 Researcher | Psychiatry | Harvard Medical School

  • 1993-1996 Instructor | Psychiatry | Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts Mental Health Center

  • 1996-2004 Ass’t Professor | Psychiatry | Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts Mental Health Center

  • 2005-2019 Assoc. Professor | Psychiatry | Harvard Medical School & Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

  • 2019-present Professor | Psychiatry | Harvard Medical School & Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Select Pre-CfSC Publications

See CfSC Research Page for more

  • Mednick, S., Nakayama, K., & Stickgold, R. (2003). Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is as good as a night. Nature neuroscience, 6(7), 697-698. PDF

  • Walker, M. P., Brakefield, T., Allan Hobson, J., & Stickgold, R. (2003). Dissociable stages of human memory consolidation and reconsolidation. Nature, 425(6958), 616-620. PDF

  • Walker, M. P., Brakefield, T., Morgan, A., Hobson, J. A., & Stickgold, R. (2002). Practice with sleep makes perfect: sleep-dependent motor skill learning. Neuron, 35(1), 205-211. PDF

  • Walker, M. P., Liston, C., Hobson, J. A., & Stickgold, R. (2002). Cognitive flexibility across the sleep–wake cycle: REM-sleep enhancement of anagram problem solving. Cognitive Brain Research, 14(3), 317-324. PDF

  • Mednick, S. C., Nakayama, K., Cantero, J. L., Atienza, M., Levin, A. A., Pathak, N., & Stickgold, R. (2002). The restorative effect of naps on perceptual deterioration. Nature neuroscience, 5(7), 677-681. PDF

  • Stickgold, R. (2002). EMDR: A putative neurobiological mechanism of action. Journal of clinical psychology, 58(1), 61-75. PDF

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., Berntson, G. G., Ernst, J. M., Gibbs, A. C., Stickgold, R., & Hobson, J. A. (2002). Do lonely days invade the nights? Potential social modulation of sleep efficiency. Psychological Science, 13(4), 384-387. PDF

  • Stickgold, R., James, L., & Hobson, J. A. (2000). Visual discrimination learning requires sleep after training. Nature neuroscience, 3(12), 1237-1238. PDF

  • Stickgold, R., Malia, A., Maguire, D., Roddenberry, D., & O'Connor, M. (2000). Replaying the game: hypnagogic images in normals and amnesics. Science, 290(5490), 350-353. PDF

  • Hobson, J. A., Pace-Schott, E. F., & Stickgold, R. (2000). Dreaming and the brain: toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states. Behavioral and brain sciences, 23(6), 793-842. PDF

  • Stickgold, R., Whidbee, D., Schirmer, B., Patel, V., & Hobson, J. A. (2000). Visual discrimination task improvement: A multi-step process occurring during sleep. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 12(2), 246-254. PDF

  • Stickgold, R., Scott, L., Rittenhouse, C., & Hobson, J. A. (1999). Sleep-induced changes in associative memory. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 11(2), 182-193. PDF

  • Hobson, J. A., Stickgold, R., & Pace-Schott, E. F. (1998). The neuropsychology of REM sleep dreaming. Neuroreport, 9(3), R1-R14. PDF

Select Media References & Appearances

Click here for recordings of some of Bob’s Public Speaking Events

Select Affiliations & Credentials

  • 1993 - Present, Member | American Psychological Assoc.

  • 1995 - Present, Member | Cognitive Neuroscience Society

  • 1995 - Present, Member | Sleep Research Society (Abstract Reviewer since 2002)

  • 2001 - Present, Member | Society for Neuroscience (Abstract Reviewer since 2010)

  • 2001 - Present, Mind, Brain and Behavior Standing Committee | Harvard University

  • 2004 - Present, Division of Sleep Medicine T-32 grant Preceptor / Preceptors Committee | Harvard Medical School

  • 2005 - Present, Psychiatry Research Committee | Harvard Medical School

  • 2006 - 2020, Chair, Div. of Sleep Medicine T32 curriculum committee | Harvard Medical School

  • 2008 - Present, Division of Sleep Medicine Sleep and Health Education Program Editorial Board | Harvard Medical School

  • 2015 - Present, Mind, Brain and Behavior Board of Faculty Advisors | Harvard University

  • 2017 - Present, Advisory Board | Philips Respironics Inc. (1 day per year)

  • 2018 - Present, Advisory Board | Eight Sleep Inc (1 day per year)

Select Awards & Honors

  • 2013 | Faculty award for excellence in research teaching and mentorship, HMS Dept. of Psychiatry (BIDMC)

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