Michael Perlis, Ph.D.

Discipline: Psychiatry
Focus: Sleep
Email: Michael_Perlis@urmc.rochester.edu
Website

Biography

Dr. Perlis is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Rochester, Member of the Neurosciences Program, Director of the UR Sleep Research Laboratory and Director of the UR Behavioral Sleep Medicine Service.

His areas of expertise include sleep in psychiatric disorders and neurocognitive phenomena in insomnia, the mechanisms of action of sedative hypnotics and the development of alternative treatments for insomnia. His clinical expertise is in the area of Behavioral Sleep Medicine and he is the principle author of the first text book in this field (Treating Sleep Disorders: The Principles and Practice of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Wiley & Sons). He has authored or co-authored a variety of papers and chapters on the assessment and treatment of sleep disorders and published more than 35 empirical or theoretical papers on sleep related topics.

Dr. Perlis’s specific research interests include:

• High frequency EEG activity in insomnia as a measure of cortical arousal (NIMH)
• Memory and information processing in insomnia (Salzman)
• Information processing at sleep onset in insomnia as measured by ERPs.
• Insomnia as a risk factor for new onset and recurrent depression (MDD).
• The antidepressant effects of CBT for insomnia and its potential as a means of protecting patients with MDD against new onset episodes and recurrence.
• The relative efficacy of behavioral and pharmacologic treatments of insomnia
• The relative efficacy of CBT Tx for insomnia in patients with Primary and Secondary Insomnia (secondary to Major Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Chronic Pain and Cancer).
• Effectiveness of sedative hypnotics when used intermittently and long term (Lorex Pharmaceuticals, Elan Pharmaceuticals)
• The effects of modafinil on the sleep and daytime function in patients with insomnia (Cephalon Pharmaceuticals)
• The value of "chonobiotics" (e.g., Melatonin) for treating circadian dysrhythmia in insomnia.
• Patient preferences with respect to sedative hypnotics and patterns of medication use when allowed ad libitum use.
• The development of novel treatments for insomnia (e.g., neurofeedback). Conditioned arousal model of insomnia in the rat.

In addition to his academic endeavors, he has served as Assistant Director of Training for the SRS (1996-2000) and as the founding editor of the SRS & AASM Training Opportunities in Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Manual. Dr. Perlis is currently a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Presidential Committee on Behavioral Sleep Medicine, the section chair for Behavioral Sleep Medicine, and the coordinator of the Junior Faculty in Sleep Research Interest Group.

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