Center for Sleep and Cognition

Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Director: Tony Cunningham, PhD

https://www.centerforsleepandcognition.com/

The Center for Sleep and Cognition is devoted to research into the cognitive and emotional functions of sleep and dreaming, and the role of these processes in the evolution of memories. Specifically, we are interested in how sleep and dreaming participate in the normal processing of emotional experiences and of memories more generally, and how these processes contribute to and can be optimized to benefit the mental health and cognitive functioning of an individual.

The CfSC was established by Dr. Robert Stickgold in 2003 as an outgrowth of the Laboratory of Neurophysiology at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, which was under the direction of J. Allan Hobson. Now under the direction of Dr. Tony Cunningham, the CfSC resides in the Dana Building at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and conducts research across the institution. This includes the BIDMC Clinical Research Center (CRC) which is home to four state-of-the-art sleep rooms, top-of-the-line high-density electroencephalogram (hdEEG) amplifiers, polysomnography (PSG) recording and analysis systems, nursing staff support, and a nutrition team.

Led by CfSC Medical Director, Dr. Seo Ho (Michael) Song, our neuromodulation program delivers non-invasive transcranial electrical stimulation—high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) and transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS)—during sleep itself, precisely timed to specific sleep stages, with closed-loop systems in development that will read the sleeping brain in real time and stimulate at the moment it matters most. We are particularly excited about tTIS! Where conventional stimulation reaches only the surface of the brain, tTIS can non-invasively reach the deep subcortical centers that generate and regulate sleep. Upcoming projects will target those circuits directly, moving us from enhancing sleep’s signatures to shaping sleep at its source.

Together, Drs. Cunningham and Song look forward to advancing our understanding of the features of sleep that support memory and emotional processing while pioneering a new generation of research that unites behavioral sleep medicine with non-invasive brain stimulation.

Administrative Contact

Tony Cunningham, PhD
acunnin4@bidmc.harvard.edu
617.667.4702

Research Address

Center for Sleep and Cognition
330 Brookline Ave
Dana 731 
Boston, MA 02215

Faculty
Affiliated Faculty 
Postdoctoral Fellow
Current Trainees
  • Aayush Bhandary 
  • Alison Poussaint 
  • Arianna Grant  
  • Brian Zirkel 
  • Daphne Ying
  • Daniel Le
  • Dean Ibrahim 
  • Eepsitha Muppasani 
  • Emily Berthiaume 
  • Gabriel Fortaleza-Tan
  • Geethika Atmakuri 
  • Grace (Meijia) He
  • Jessica Mangila 
  • Jinwon Chang 
  • Junwoo Park 
  • Kristina Oganyan
  • Lizzy Lamprey 
  • Lydia Lu
  • Mickaila Haisley 
  • Nur Kader 
  • Pavin Rajagopal 
  • Phoebe Aney 
  • Rosy Karna 
  • Samira Kennedy 
  • Sofia Ritter-Pleitez 
  • Thea Sanzone  
  • Zaria Wellesley
Lab Publications
 

     Sleep, Memory, and Cognition

  • Cunningham T. J., Stickgold R and Kensinger EA (2022) Investigating the effects of sleep and sleep loss on the different stages of episodic emotional memory: A narrative review and guide to the future. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 16:910317. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.910317
  • Cunningham, T. J., Kishore, D., Guo, M., Igue, M., Malhotra, A., Stickgold, R., & Djonlagic, I. (2022). The Effect of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Sleep-Dependent Emotional Memory Consolidation. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202204-315OC. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202204-315OC 
  • Niu, X., Utayde, M. F., Sanders, K. E. G., Cunningham, T. J., Zhang, G., Kensinger, E. A., & Payne, J. D. (2024) The Effects of Shared, Depression-Specific, and Anxiety-Specific Internalizing Symptoms on Negative and Neutral Episodic Memories Following Post-Learning Sleep. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci  https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-024-01209-5 
  • Song S. H., Cunningham T. J., Zhang, Y., Lizano, P., & Keshavan, M. S. (2024) Neuroscience in Pictures: 2. Sleep, Wakefulness, and Mental State Biology. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104070 
  • Denis, D., Bottary, R., Cunningham, T.J., Drummond S.P.A., and Straus, L.D. (2023) Beta spectral power during sleep is associated with impaired recall of extinguished fear. Sleep, zsad209: https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad209 
  • Denis, D., Bottary, R., Cunningham, T. J., Tcheukado, M. C., & Payne, J. D. (2023). The influence of encoding strategy on associative memory consolidation across wake and sleep. Learning & Memory, 30(9), 185-191. 
  • Ford, J.H., Fields, E.C., Garcia, S.M., Cunningham, T.J., Kensinger, E.A. (2023) Perceived event resolution--rather than time--allows older adults to reduce the negativity of their memories. Memory. DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2023.2166079
  • Daley, R. T., Kensinger, E.A., Cunningham, T.J., & Ford, J.H., (2023) Me, Myself, and Everyone Else: Potential impacts of episodic processes on national and personal memories. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. 
  • Cunningham T. J., Stickgold R and Kensinger EA (2022) Investigating the effects of sleep and sleep loss on the different stages of episodic emotional memory: A narrative review and guide to the future. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 16:910317. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.910317 
  • Cunningham, T. J., Kishore, D., Guo, M., Igue, M., Malhotra, A., Stickgold, R., & Djonlagic, I. (2022). The Effect of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Sleep-Dependent Emotional Memory Consolidation. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202204-315OC. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202204-315OC 
  • Cunningham T.J.,* Bottary R,* Denis D, Payne JD. (2021) Sleep spectral power correlates of prospective memory maintenance. Learn Mem. 28(9):291-299 http://www.learnmem.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/ lm.053412.121, PMID: 34400530. 
  • Denis, D., Mylonas, D., Poskanzer, C., Bursal, V., Payne, J. D., & Stickgold, R. (2021). Sleep spindles preferentially consolidate weakly encoded memories. Journal of Neuroscience, 41(18), 4088-4099. 
  • Bottary, R., Kark, S., Daley, R., Denis, D., Cunningham, T. J., Payne, J. D., & Kensinger, E. A. (2021). Investigation of the Stress and Sleep Physiology Correlates of Next-Day Memory for Details of a Social Stressor Testing Environment. bioRxiv 
  • Cunningham, T. J., Mattingly, S. M., Tlatenchi, A., Wirth, M. M., Alger, S. E., Kensinger, E. A., & Payne, J. D. (2021). Higher post-encoding cortisol benefits the selective consolidation of emotional aspects of memory. Neurobiology of learning and memory, 180, 107411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107411, PMID: 33609737  
  • Schapiro, A. C., Reid, A. G., Morgan, A., Manoach, D. S., Verfaellie, M., & Stickgold, R. (2019). The hippocampus is necessary for the consolidation of a task that does not require the hippocampus for initial learning. Hippocampus, 29(11), 1091-1100. 
  • Stickgold, R. (2015) Beyond Memory: The Benefits of Sleep. Scientific American, 313(4).
  • Stickgold, R., & Walker, M. P. (2013). Sleep-dependent memory triage: evolving generalization through selective processing. Nature neuroscience, 16(2), 139-145. 
  • Tamminen, J., Payne, J. D., Stickgold, R., Wamsley, E. J., & Gaskell, M. G. (2010). Sleep spindle activity is associated with the integration of new memories and existing knowledge. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(43), 14356-14360. 
  • Stickgold, R. (2009) The Simplest Way to Reboot Your Brain. Harvard Business Review. 
  • Stickgold R. & Wehrwein, P (2009) Health for Life: The Link Between Sleep and Memory. Newsweek 
  • Stickgold, R. & Ellenbogen J. M. (2008) Sleep on It: How Snoozing Makes You Smarter. Scientific American. 
  • Payne, J. D., Stickgold, R., Swanberg, K., & Kensinger, E. A. (2008). Sleep preferentially enhances memory for emotional components of scenes. Psychological science, 19(8), 781-788. 
  • Stickgold, R., & Walker, M. P. (2007). Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and reconsolidation. Sleep medicine, 8(4), 331-343. 
  • Walker, M. P., & Stickgold, R. (2006). Sleep, memory, and plasticity. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 57, 139-166. 
  • Ellenbogen, J. M., Hulbert, J. C., Stickgold, R., Dinges, D. F., & Thompson-Schill, S. L. (2006). Interfering with theories of sleep and memory: sleep, declarative memory, and associative interference. Current Biology, 16(13), 1290-1294. 
  • Stickgold, R. (2005). Sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Nature, 437(7063), 1272-1278. 
  • Stickgold, R., & Walker, M. P. (2005). Memory consolidation and reconsolidation: what is the role of sleep?. Trends in neurosciences, 28(8), 408-415. 

  • Walker, M. P., & Stickgold, R. (2004). Sleep-dependent learning and memory consolidation. Neuron, 44(1), 121-133. 
     

    Sleep in Psychiatric Populations

  • Wieman ST, Hall KA, Park ER, Gorman MJ, Comander A, Goldstein MR, Cunningham, T. J., Mizrach HR, Juhel B, Li R, Markowitz A, Grandner M, Liverant GI, Hall DL. (2023). Treatment-related changes in insomnia, anticipatory pleasure, and depression symptoms: A proof-of-concept study with cancer survivors. Sleep Medicine. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2023.01.011    
  • Hall, D. L. Arditte Hall, K. A, Gorman, M. J., Comander, A., Goldstein, M. R., Cunningham, T. J., Wieman, S., Mizrach, H.R., Juhel, B., Li, R.  Markowitz, A., Grandner, M.; Park E. R. (2021). The Survivorship Sleep Program (SSP): A Synchronous, Virtual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Pilot Program among Cancer Survivors. Cancer    
  • Denis D.,*, Bottary R.,* Cunningham, T. J., Zeng, S., Daffre, C., Oliver K. L., Moore K., Gazecki S., Mendelsohn A. K., Martinez U., Pace-Schott, E. F. (2021) Sleep Power Spectral Density and Spindles in PTSD and their Relationship to Symptom Severity. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 766647.    

  • Cunningham, T. J. & Bowman, M.A. (2019). The darkest hours: McCarthy et al. (2019) report increased risk for suicide from midnight to 3 am for US veterans and civilians. Sleep, 43(2), zsz258, PMID: 31634911
     

    Sleep and Dreaming

  • *Bob’s Book* Zadra, A., & Stickgold, R. (2021). When brains dream: Understanding the science and mystery of our dreaming minds. WW Norton & Company.
  • Cunningham, T.J. (2023) The Next Step in Understanding the Function of Dreams. SLEEP.   
  • Stickgold, R., & Zadra, A. (2021). Sleep: Opening a portal to the dreaming brain. Current Biology, 31(7), R352-R353. 
  • Haar Horowitz A, Cunningham T. J., Maes P, Stickgold R. (2020). Dormio: A targeted dream incubation device. Consciousness and Cognition, 83, PMID: 32480292  

  • 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. 
     

    Physiology of Sleep and Sleep Loss

  • Mullington, J., Cunningham, T.J, Haack, M., & Yang H. (2021) Causes and consequences of chronic sleep deficiency and the role of orexin. In M.A Steiner, M. Yanagisawa, M. Clozel, (Eds.), The Orexin System. Basic Science and Role in Sleep Pathology, Front Neurol Neurosci. Basel, Karger, vol 45, pp 128–138, PMID: 34052807.    

  • Fultz, N. E., Bonmassar, G., Setsompop, K., Stickgold, R. A., Rosen, B. R., Polimeni, J. R., & Lewis, L. D. (2019). Coupled electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and cerebrospinal fluid oscillations in human sleep. Science, 366(6465), 628-631.
     

    Sleep and Mental Health Equity

  • Rodriguez-Seijas, C., McClendon, J., Wendt, D., Novacek, D., Ebalu, T., Hallion, L., Hassan, N., Huson, K., Spielmans, G., Folk, J., Khazem, L., Neblett, E., Cunningham, T. J., Hampton, J., Steinman, S., Hamilton, J., Mekawi, Y. (Accepted) The Next Generation of Clinical Psychological Science: Moving Toward Antiracism. Clinical Psychological Science  

  • Rodriguez-Seijas, C., McClendon, J., Wendt, D., Novacek, D., Ebalu, T., Hallion, L., Hassan, N., Huson, K., Spielmans, G., Folk, J., Khazem, L., Neblett, E., Cunningham, T. J., Hampton, J., Steinman, S., Hamilton, J., Mekawi, Y. (2023) The Next Generation of Clinical Psychological Science: Moving Toward Antiracism. Clinical Psychological Science
     

    Circadian Rhythms and Social Determinants of Sleep

  • Cunningham, T. J., Fields, E.C., Denis, D., Bottary, R., Stickgold, R., & Kensinger, E.A. (2022). How the 2020 US Presidential election impacted sleep and its relationship to public mood and alcohol consumption. Sleep health, 8(6), 571–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2022.08.009. 
  • Cunningham, T. J., Fields, E.C., Denis, D., Bottary, R., Stickgold, R., & Kensinger, E.A. (2022). How the 2020 US Presidential election impacted sleep and its relationship to public mood and alcohol consumption. Sleep health, 8(6), 571–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2022.08.009.    
  • Bottary, R., Fields, E.C., Ugheoke, L., Denis, D., Mullington, J. M., & Cunningham, T. J. (2023) Changes in Sleep Regularity and Perceived Life Stress across the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Analysis of a Predominately Female United States Convenience Sample. Clocks & Sleep ; 5(1):1-9. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep5010001   
  • Bottary, R., Fields, E.C., Kensinger, E.A., & Cunningham, T. J. (2021). Age and chronotype influence sleep timing changes during the first-wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Sleep Research. PMID: 34608693    

  • Bottary, R., Cunningham, T.J., Spencer, R., & Pace-Schott, E. (2020). Social Jetlag is Independently Associated with Chronotype and Poor Memory for Extinguished Fear. Experimental Results, 1, E22. doi:10.1017/exp.2020.26  
     

    Sleep and Emotional Well-Being during COVID-19

  • Liu, S., Wang, L. X., Chen, M. S., Cao, H., Cunningham, T. J., & Joormann, J. (2024). Sleep bad, feel bad: Unpacking the role of exercise and socializing. Behaviour research and therapy, 183, 104652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104652 
  • Cho, I., Cunningham, T. J., Daley, R. T., Kensinger, E. A., & Gutchess, A. (2023). Empathy, Memory, and Aging During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 100105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2023.100105 
  • Bottary, R., Fields, E.C., Ugheoke, L., Denis, D., Mullington, J. M., & Cunningham, T. J. (2023) Changes in Sleep Regularity and Perceived Life Stress across the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Analysis of a Predominately Female United States Convenience Sample. Clocks & Sleep ; 5(1):1-9. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep5010001   
  • Drummond, S. P. A,, Wiley, J. F., Boardman, J. M., Aidman, E., Kensinger, E. A., & Cunningham, T. J. (2023). Trait-level cognitive and psychological factors associated with longitudinal resilience to sleep disturbance under chronic stress. Sleep, 46(1), zsac249.. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac249   
  • Daley, R. T., Cunningham, T. J., Kensinger, E. A. (2022) Moral decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with age, negative affect, and negative memory. Front. Psychol. 13:974933. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.974933    
  • Cunningham, T.J., Bottary, R., & Kensinger E. A. (2022). Society’s responses to the pandemic may have triggered one benefit: Reduced competition for sleep. Sleep Research Society Public Education Papers.  https://sleepresearchsociety.org/publications/public-education-papers/   
  • Fields, E.C., Kensinger, E.A., Garcia, S.M., Ford, J.H., & Cunningham, T. J. (2022). With age comes well-being: Older age associated with lower stress, negative affect, and depression throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Aging and Mental Health    
  • Bottary, R., Fields, E.C., Kensinger, E.A., & Cunningham, T. J. (2021). Age and chronotype influence sleep timing changes during the first-wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Sleep Research. PMID: 34608693    
  • Cho I, Daley RT, Cunningham T.J., Kensinger EA, & Gutchess A. (2021) Aging, Empathy, and Prosocial Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. PMID: 34320179.    
  • Ford, J., Garcia, S. M., Fields, E. C., Cunningham, T. J., & Kensinger, E. A. (2021). Older adults remember more positive aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychol Aging. (6):694-699. doi: 10.1037/pag0000636. PMID: 34516173; PMCID: PMC8442960.    
  • Cunningham, T.J., Fields, E.C. & Kensinger, E.A. (2021) Boston College daily sleep and well-being survey data during early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sci Data 8, 110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00886-y, PMID: 33863920   
  • Cunningham T.J., Fields EC, Garcia SM, & Kensinger EA. (2021) The relation between age and experienced stress, worry, affect, and depression during the spring 2020 phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Emotion. PMID: 34138584.    
  • Rodriguez-Seijas, C., Fields, E. C., Bottary, R., Kark, S., Goldstein, M., Kensinger, E. A., & Payne, J. D. & Cunningham, T. J. (2020). Comparing the Impact of COVID-19-Related Social Distancing on Mood and Psychiatric Indicators in Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) and Non-SGM Individuals. Frontiers in Psychiatry 11, 590318. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.590318, PMID: 33414732   
  • Bottary, R., Simonelli, G., Cunningham, T. J., Kensinger, E. A., & Mantua, J. (2020). Sleep extension: an explanation for increased pandemic dream recall?. Sleep, 43(11), zsaa131. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaa131, PMID: 32886777   

*Shared first authorship on work