- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWilliam Charles Dement
- William Dement was born on July 29, 1928 in Wenatchee, Washington, USA. He was married to Pat. He died on June 17, 2020 in Stanford, California, USA.
- SpousePat(? - 2014) (her death, 3 children)
- He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, and trained in psychiatry at the University of Chicago.
- He was a professor of psychiatry and a pioneer in sleep research. He ran early studies of rapid-eye movement sleep (REM), which he identified as the stage during which most dreams occur. He described the phases of the sleep cycle, using electroencephalograms to monitor brain waves. He established the health risks of sleep deprivation and sleep apnea. He wrote one of the first college textbooks on sleep, and founded the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic, considered the first sleep lab in the nation.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content