The discovery of REM changed the way we think about sleep. But the man behind the discovery…he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it.
In the 1950s, Armond Aserinsky became the most famous kid in science. The 9-year-old son of Eugene Aserinksy, a tough, obstinate grad student who discovered REM sleep, Armond saw the pains of discovery up close, as his dad’s first test subject. REM, which some likened to another state of existence, would change science, and the Aserinsky household, for good.
Special thanks to guests Armond Aserinsky and journalist Lynne Lamberg, as well as to Dr. Peter Shiromani.
Links from today's episode:
Read the article by Chip Brown that inspired this episode
We couldn't have done this without Lynne Lamberg - read one of her articles on Aserinksy
And for more on how sleep science evolved, read "A New Vision of Dreams" in the New York Times