Imaging sleep and sleep disorders.

Sleep, a natural alteration in consciousness, is increasingly difficult to achieve for more than a third of the U.S. population. Despite breathtaking advances in our understanding of sleep, there remains a considerable need for increased awareness and education concerning this growing public health problem. In November 2011, the National Institutes of Health published a sleep disorders research plan geared toward advancing understanding of sleep disorders and their societal impact, improving treatment of sleep disorders, and recruiting and expanding research in this area. Imaging, with its fast-paced innovations and applications, plays an expanding role in exploring sleep, how it affects the brain, and how lack of sleep can be diagnosed and treated more effectively.