Center for Adolescent Reward, Rhythm, & Sleep

Congratulations to CARRS Director Dr. Buysse and Advisory Board member Dr. Luna on being appointed as Distinguished Professors by the University of Pittsburgh!

Daniel Buysse, MD, Beatriz Luna, PhD, and Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab), Honored with Distinguished Professorships We are delighted to announce that Daniel Buysse, MD, Beatriz Luna, PhD, and Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab), have each been appointed Distinguished Professor by the University of Pittsburgh. A distinguished professorship constitutes the highest honor that the University can accord a member of the pro...

Check out this great research article published by CARRS Director Colleen McClung & colleagues! Their findings demonstrate that circadian rhythm in the nucleus accumbens plays a role in reward-related behavior. More about the study can be found below. (This is really cool!)

Circadian clocks are integral to the modulation of reward behaviors, and astrocytes have emerged as key regulators of circadian rhythmicity. However, no studies to date have identified the role of circadian astrocyte function in the nucleus accumbens. In a recent Biological Psychiatry paper, investigators elucidated the role of astrocyte circadian molecular clock function in the regulation of the nucleus accumbens and reward-related behaviors. https://bit.ly/3wnPUy5

Do night owls draw the "short straw" during the typical workweek because of their sleep patterns? CARRS Investigator Brant Hasler says that there's an unfair stigma in our society for those who go to bed later. Read more on the daily effects a sleep schedule can have from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Sleep experts are rethinking their beliefs about night owls. Thank the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many people to telework, allowed more flexibility in work schedules, prompting sleep scientists to rethink assumptions about sleep and how to assess patients.

CARRS Director Colleen McClung was featured on a episode of UPMC's Psychiatry Advances podcast, "Circadian Rhythms, What are They? How do These Affect Psychiatric and Other Disorders?" You can give it a listen on Spotify, Apple Music, or at the link below!

Circadian Rhythms, What are They? How Do These Affect Psychiatric and Other Diseases | UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital Learn more about Circadian Rhythms, What are They? How Do These Affect Psychiatric and Other Diseases (Disorders) from Dr. Colleen McClung.

CARRS Investigators Brant Hasler, Adrianne Soehner, Meredith Wallace, and Duncan Clark published an article about how adolescents' circadian alignments affect their neural responses to monetary rewards. Click the link below to read more about their preliminary findings!

Preliminary Evidence That Circadian Alignment Predicts Neural Response to Monetary Reward in Late Adolescent Drinkers BackgroundRobust evidence links sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, with a growing literature implicating reward-related mechanisms. However, the extant literature has been limited by cross-sectional designs, self-report or behavioral proxies for circ...

Welcome to the CARRS page! We'll be posting here about upcoming news and events that CARRS is involved in. Check us out on Twitter () and Instagram () or visit our website for more information about our research!

Home | Center for Adolescent Reward, Rhythms, and Sleep Participate in our research! Are you a teen between 13 and 15 years old? Sign up to participate in our research studies! Participate About CARRS The Center for Adolescent Rewards, Rhythms, and Sleep (CARRS) brings together experts in translational sleep and addiction research to create a program foc...

Center for Adolescent Reward, Rhythm, & Sleep updated their phone number.