When Ryan Brindle, associate professor of cognitive and behavioral sciences (CBSC) at Washington and Lee University, isn’t sleeping, he’s usually thinking about sleep. Specifically, he conducts extensive research in collaboration with students and other academics to measure the impact of sleep on our health and well-being.
Brindle is the director of the university’s Sleep Lab, which studies the links between stress, sleep and health. He established W&L’s Sleep Lab when he joined the faculty in 2018, hoping to pass on the formative experiences he had in sleep research to W&L undergraduates. Brindle’s research focuses on the impact of mental stress on health and illness, particularly the impact of stress on sleep and whether sleep can buffer the negative impact of stress and even improve health.
“There is no part of our cognition, behavior, health, or overall functioning that sleep does not touch,” Brindle said. “Everything goes back to sleep.”
The Brindle lab is one of the only undergraduate sleep labs in the country, providing W&L students with a unique research opportunity. While guiding students in the lab, Brindle aims to emphasize the importance of a liberal arts perspective and the transferable skills that hands-on research can teach.
“Research couldn’t be done without undergraduates, and it creates rich experiences for students,” he said. “They learn so many skills that transcend the focus on science and sleep and can be applied to any field.”
Brindle has incorporated the sleep lab into several of his courses, and he considers his ability to incorporate its lines of research into his curriculum to be a hallmark of W&L’s teacher-scholar model. In class, students tour the sleep lab, review data from previous studies, and conduct their own self-studies using Actiwatches (a wrist-worn device that monitors sleep and wake patterns) and daily newspapers. Students can also get involved in the lab through independent research, and lab studies – which take more time – are typically conducted by summer research fellows or the lab’s research assistants.
“Ultimately, collaborative research allows students to expand their skills, and working with faculty in this capacity is fundamental to W&L’s close-knit community.” »
~Lily George ’25
As undergraduate research assistants, Ryan Chin ’25, Lily George ’25, and Sophia Breschi ’26 are involved in all aspects of the lab. Chin, a CBSC graduate interested in data science and statistics, said working in the sleep lab introduced him to new technologies and techniques.
“Opportunities to work with specialized equipment and contribute to original research are rare for undergraduates, and the hands-on experience with lab technology has been invaluable,” he said.
George, a CBSC and German pre-med double major, was drawn to the sleep lab to gain exposure to research beyond lab classes and to have the opportunity to participate in research collaborations between professors and students, an experience she considers important to the W&L Experience.
“Ultimately, collaborative research allows students to expand their skills, and working with faculty in this capacity is fundamental to W&L’s close-knit community,” George said.
The student research team recently launched a study on sleep and the concept of interoception, or how the body monitors itself.
“It is important that (interoception) functions to monitor vital bodily functions so that homeostasis is maintained, as dysfunction of this ability is linked to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression,” a said Breschi, a CBSC major who plans to pursue further education. a career in health professions.
Having completed sleep studies herself, Breschi joined the Brindle Sleep Lab because she was curious about the individualized factors, such as stress levels and physiological differences, that affect sleep and may have an impact on a person’s overall physical and mental health. She was pleasantly surprised to play such a hands-on role in the sleep lab, including helping to design and execute the study.
“Being able to participate and play a full role in the research process is something I never imagined I would have the chance to do as an undergraduate and is certainly a unique opportunity at W&L,” Breschi said. “Dr. Brindle is always extremely open to our comments and encourages us to question his own ideas, allowing us to feel that all of our questions have merit and should be genuinely considered.
The lab’s current project began in fall 2023. When planning the study, Brindle and the students realized that there was no method of measuring interoception that met their needs, because few studies have examined this concept. The team decided to fill this gap in sleep research and reoriented their initial research questions to design a task to measure interoception, which would ultimately be used in their sleep study. After processing data from the pilot phase and making necessary revisions, the team began testing participants with the updated methodology during the fall 2024 quarter.
Throughout the study of interoception, one of Brindle’s priorities has been to ensure that students are involved in every step of the research and to learn the level of detail involved in the design and implementation. execution of study methods.
“I love seeing them learn the skills and content and then start to become independent operators in the lab themselves,” he said. “Seeing their confidence and enthusiasm grow as they go through this process is nothing short of incredible. »
Brindle’s team found the experience equally rewarding, as it provided them with an important opportunity to not only expand their skills, but also view collaborative research as a mutually beneficial partnership between faculty and students.
“I feel that through Dr. Brindle’s mentorship, I am pushed to become a more independent and critical thinker,” Breschi said. “This exemplifies how faculty want to make each experience one that students can take with them beyond graduation, in preparation for future careers and meaningful lives.” »