Somnology Somnology Somnology is the scientific study of sleep. It includes clinical study and treatment of sleep disorders and irregularities. Sleep medicine is a subset of somnology. After the invention of the EEG, the stages of sleep were determined in 1936 by Harvey and Loomis, the first descriptions of delta and theta waves were made by Walter and Dovey, and REM sleep was discovered in 1953. Sleep apnea was identified in 1965. In 1970, the first clinical sleep laboratory was developed at Stanford. The first actigraphy device was made in 1978 by Krupke, and continuous positive airway pressure therapy and uvulopalatopharyngoplasty
Neoteny in humans lower second and third molars. Populations with a history of dairy farming have evolved to be lactose tolerant in adulthood, whereas other populations generally lose the ability to break down lactose as they grow into adults. Down syndrome neotenizes the brain and body. The syndrome is characterized by decelerated maturation (neoteny), incomplete morphogenesis (vestigia) and atavisms. Neoteny in humans Neoteny in humans is the retention of juvenile features well into adulthood. This trend is greatly amplified in humans especially when compared to non-human primates. Adult humans more closely resemble the infants of gorillas and chimpanzees than the adults. Neotenic features