Home » People » Faculty
Unit for Experimental Psychiatry
Faculty
David F. Dinges, Ph.D.
Director, Unit for Experimental Psychiatry
Chief, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology, Department of Psychiatry
Director, Unit for Experimental Psychiatry
David F. Dinges, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Chief of the Division of Sleep and Chronobiology in the Department of Psychiatry, and Associate Director of the Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
He is also a member of Penn's Institute for Neurological Sciences, the Psychology Graduate Group, the Biological Basis of Behavior faculty, and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, at Drexel University. Dr. Dinges earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Experimental Physiological Psychology from Saint Louis University. He also trained at the Central Institute for the Deaf, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and at the Institute for Experimental Psychiatry at Pennsylvania Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania.
His laboratory is dedicated to scientific discovery of the physiological, cognitive and functional changes resulting from sleep loss and behavioral stressors in humans, and to evaluating behavioral, pharmacological and technological countermeasures to these effects. His research has primarily focused on the manner in which neurobiology regulating sleep homeostasis and circadian rhythmicity control cognitive, affective, behavioral, endocrine and immunological processes in humans. His research has involved extensive laboratory, simulator and field studies on the consequences of sleep loss and circadian misalignment from both lifestyle and medical disorders; effects of sleep disorders; recovery potential of naps; nature of sleep inertia; impact of cumulative sleep debt; differential vulnerability to the neurobehavioral effects of sleep loss; and development of technologies for monitoring human neurobehavioral capability, such as the widely used the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT). He has over 230 publications and his scientific work has been funded for 30 consecutive years by numerous Federal Agencies, including NIH, NASA, DOD, DOT, and DHS, as well as private foundations.
His research on the physiological and behavioral effects of sleep deprivation, and ways to mitigate these effects, has been extensively used to inform both Federal and private regulatory policies. He has also advised many Federal and private organizations concerned with issues of sleep in relation to work hours, health and safety, including the U.S. Congress; National Institutes of Health; National Transportation Safety Board; Department of Justice; Department of Transportation; Surgeon General's Office of the Air Force; American Trucking Association; Accreditation Council of General Medical Education and the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Dr. Dinges has served as President of the Sleep Research Society and on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the National Sleep Foundation. He currently serves as President of the World Federation of Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Societies. He has been the recipient of numerous awards for teaching and research, including the 2002 Senator Mark O. Hatfield Public Policy Award and the 2004 William C. Dement Academic Achievement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine; as well as a 2004 Decade of Behavior Research Award from the American Psychological Association. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of SLEEP, the leading scientific journal on sleep research and sleep medicine.
Selected Bibliography:
Goel, N., Mignot, E., Banks, S., Dinges, D.F.: Period gene 3 allele variation relative to neurobehavioral responses to chronic sleep restriction. Plos One (in press).
Basner, M., Dinges, D.F.: Dubious bargain: Trading sleep for Leno and Letterman. Sleep (in press).
Goel, N. Rao, H., Durmer, J., Dinges, D.F.: Neurocognitive consequences of sleep deprivation. Seminars in Neurology (in press).
Gunzelmann, G., Gross, J.B., Gluck, K.A., Dinges, D.F.: Sleep deprivation and sustained attention performance: integrating mathematical and cognitive modeling. Cognitive Science (in press).
McCauley, P, Kalachev, L.V., Smith, A.D., Belenky, G., Dinges, D.F., Van Dongen, H.: A new mathematical model for the homeostatic effects of sleep loss on neurobehavioral performance. Journal of Theoretical Biology 256:227–239, 2009.
Gunzelmann, G., Moore, L. R., Gluck, K. A., Van Dongen, H. P. A., Dinges, D.F., Individual differences in sustained vigilant attention: Insights from computational cognitive modeling. In B.C. Love, K. McRae, V. M. Sloutsky (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society, 2017-2022, 2008.
Mollicone, D.J., Van Dongen, H.P.A., Rogers, N.L., Dinges, DF. Response surface mapping of neurobehavioral performance: testing the feasibility of split sleep schedules for space operations. Acta Astronautica 63(7-10): 833-840, 2008.
Basner, M., Rubinstein, J., Fomberstein, K.M., Coble, M.C., Ecker, A., Avinash, D., Dinges, D.F., Effects of night work, sleep loss and time on task on simulated threat detection performance. Sleep, 31(9):1251-1259, 2008.
Chee, M.L.W., Tan C.H., Hui Z., Parimal S., Weissman S.D., Zagorodnov V., Dinges D.F.: Lapsing during sleep deprivation is associated with distributed changes in brain activation. The Journal of Neuroscience, 28(21):5519-5528, May 21, 2008.
Lim, J., Dinges, D.F.: Sleep deprivation and vigilant attention. In: Molecular and Biophysical Mechanisms of Arousal, Alertness, and Attention. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1129:305-322, 2008.
Simpson, N., Dinges, D.F.: Sleep and inflammation. Nutrition Reviews. II: S244–S252, December 2007.
Scott, L.D., Hwang, W.-T., Rogers , A.E., Nysse, T., Dean, G.E., Dinges, D.F.: The relationship between nurse work schedules, sleep duration, and drowsy driving. Sleep, 30(12):1801-1807, 2007.
Kim , H., Dinges, D.F., Young , T.: Sleep-disordered breathing and psychomotor vigilance in a community-based sample. Sleep, 30(10):1309-1316, 2007.
Tucker, A.M., Dinges, D.F., Van Dongen, H.P.A.: Trait inter-individual differences in the sleep physiology of healthy young adults. Journal of Sleep Research, 16:1-11, 2007.
Banks, S., Dinges, D.F.: Behavioral and physiological consequences of sleep restriction in humans. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 3(5):519-528, 2007.
Van Dongen, H.P.A., Mott, C.G., Huang, J-K, Mollicone, D.J., McKenzie, F.D., Dinges, D.F.: Optimization of biomathematical model predictions for cognitive performance impairment in individuals: accounting for unknown traits and uncertain states in homeostatic and circadian processes. Sleep, 30(9), 1125-1139, 2007.
Basner, M., Fomberstein, K., Razavi, F.M., William, J., Simpson, N., Rosa, R., Dinges, D.F.: American Time Use Survey: Sleep time and its relationship to waking activities. Sleep, 30(9):1081-1091, 2007.
Weaver, T.E., Maislin, G., Dinges, D.F., Bloxham, T., George, C., Greenberg, H., Kader, G., Mahowald, M., Younger, J., Pack, A.I.: Relationship between hours of CPAP use and achieving normal levels of sleepiness and daily functioning. Sleep, 30(6):711-719, 2007.
Mollicone, D.J., Van Dongen, H., Dinges, D.F.: Optimizing sleep/wake schedules in space: Sleep during chronic nocturnal sleep restriction with and without diurnal naps. Acta Astronautica, 60:354-361, 2007.
Dinges, D.F., Venkataraman, S., McGlinchey, E.L., Metaxas, D.N.: Monitoring of facial stress during space flight: Optical computer recognition combining discriminative and generative methods. Acta Astronautica, 60:341-350, 2007.
Gross, J.B., Gunzelmann, G., Gluck, K.A., Van Dongen, H.P.A., Dinges, D.F.: Computational modeling of the combined effects of circadian rhythm and sleep deprivation. In: R. Sun & N. Miyake (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 297-302), 2006.
Gooneratne , N.S. , Gehrman, P.R., Nkwuo, E., Bellamy, S.L., Schutte-Rodin, S., Dinges, D.F., Pack, A.I.: Consequences of co-morbid insomnia symptoms and sleep-disordered breathing in elders. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(16):1732-1738, 2006.
Dinges, D.F.: Cocoa flavanols, cerebral blood flow, cognition, and health: Going forward. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, 47(2): S221-S223, 2006.
Pack, A.I., Maislin, G., Pack, F.M., George, C., Staley, B., Rogers , W., George, C.F.P., Dinges, D.F.: Impaired performance in commercial drivers: Role of sleep apnea and sleep duration. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 174:446-454, 2006.
Ellenbogen, J.M., Hulbert, J.C., Stickgold, R., Dinges, D.F., Thompson-Schill, S.L.: Interfering with theories of sleep and memory: sleep, declarative memory, and associative interference. Current Biology, 16:1290-1294, 2006.
Chuah, Y.M.L., Venkatraman, V., Dinges, D.F., Chee, M.W.L.: The neural basis of inter-individual variability in inhibitory efficiency following sleep deprivation. The Journal of Neuroscience, 26(27):7156-7162, 2006.
Pack, A.I., Dinges, D.F, Gehrman, P.R., Staley, B., Pack, F.M., Maislin, G.: Risk factors for excessive sleepiness in older adults. Annals of Neurology, 59:893-904, 2006.
Rogers , N.L., Dinges, D.F., Maislin, G., Allison, K.C., Martino , N.S. , O'Reardon, J.P., Stunkard, A.J.: Assessment of sleep in women with night eating syndrome. Sleep, 29(6), 814-819, 2006.
Chee, M.W.L., Chuah, L.Y.M., Venkatraman, V., Chan, W.Y., Philip, P., Dinges, D.F.: Functional imaging of working memory following normal sleep and after 24 and 35 h of sleep deprivation: Correlations of fronto-parietal activation with performance. NeuroImage (2006). 
Dinges, D.F., Arora, S., Darwish, M., Niebler, G.E.: Pharmacodynamic effects on alertness of single doses of armodafinil in healthy subjects during a nocturnal period of acute sleep loss. Current Medical Research and Opinions, 22(1): 159-167, 2006.
Wang, J., Wetmore, G.S., Rao, H., Furlan, P.M., Korczykowski, M.. Dinges, D.F., Detre, J.A.: The stressed brain - perfusion fMRI reveals cerebral blood flow pattern under psychological stress. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102(49): 17804-17809, 2005. 
Durmer, J.S. and Dinges, D.F.: Neurocognitive consequences of sleep deprivation. Seminars in Neurology, 25(1): 117-129, 2005. 
Drummond, S.P.A., Bischoff-Grethe, A., Dinges, D.F., Ayalon, L., Mednick, S.C., Meloy, M.J.: The neural basis of the psychomotor vigilance task. Sleep 28(9):1059-1068, 2005. 
Dinges, D.F., Rider, R.L., Dorrian, J., McGlinchey, E.L., Rogers, N.L., Cizman, Z., Goldenstein, S.K., Vogler, C., Venkataraman, S., Metaxas, D.N.: Optical computer recognition of facial expressions associated with stress induced by performance demands. Aviation, Space & Environmental Medicine 76(6): B172-182, 2005. 
Czeisler , C.A. , Walsh, J.K., Roth, T., Hughes, R.J., Wright, K.P., Kingsbury, L., Arora, S., Schwartz, J.R.L., Niebler, G., Dinges, D.F.: Modafinil for excessive sleepiness associated with shift work sleep disorder. New England Journal of Medicine, 353:476-486, 2005. 
O’Reardon, J.P., Ringel, B.L., Dinges, D.F., Allison, K.C., Martino, N.S., Stunkard, A.J.: Circadian eating and sleeping patterns in the night eating syndrome. Obesity Research 12(11): 1789-1796, 2004. 
Rogers, A.E., Wei-Ting Hwang, Scott, L.D., Aiken, L.H., Dinges, D.F.: The working hours of hospital staff nurses and patient safety. Health Affairs 23(4): 202-212, 2004.
Mallis, M.M., Mejdal, S., Nguyen, T.T., Dinges, D.F.: Summary of the key features of seven biomathematical models of human fatigue and performance. Aviation, Space & Environmental Medicine 75 (3):A4-A14, 2004. 
Dinges, D.F.: Critical research issues in development of biomathematical models of fatigue and performance. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine 75 (3):A181-A191, 2004. 
Szuba, M.P., Kloss, J.D., Dinges, D.F. (Eds.): Insomnia: Principles and Management. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 2003
Meier-Ewert, H.K., Ridker, P.M., Rifai, N., Regan, M.M., Price, N.J., Dinges, D.F., Mullington, J.M.: Effect of sleep loss on C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker of cardiovascular risk. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 43: 678-683, 2004. 
Van Dongen, H.P.A., Baynard, M.D., Maislin, G., Dinges, D.F.: Systematic interindividual differences in neurobehavioral impairment from sleep loss: Evidence of trait-like differential vulnerability. Sleep 27: 423-433, 2004. 
Dinges, D.F., Weaver, T.E. Effects of modafinil on sustained attention performance and quality of life in OSA patients with residual sleepiness while being treated with nCPAP. Sleep Medicine 4: 393-402, 2003. 
Mullington, J.M., Chan, J.L., Van Dongen, H.P.A., Szuba, M.P., Samaras, J., Price, N.J., Meier-Ewert, H.K., Dinges, D.F., Mantzoros, C.S. Sleep loss reduces diurnal rhythm amplitude of leptin in healthy men. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 15: 851-854, 2003. 
Rogers, N.L., Dorrian, J., Dinges, D.F. Sleep, waking and neurobehavioral performance. Frontiers in Bioscience 8: s1056-1067, 2003. 
Van Dongen, H.P.A., Dinges, D.F. Investigating the interaction between the homeostatic and circadian processes of sleep-wake regulation for the prediction of waking neurobehavioral performance. Journal of Sleep Research 12: 181-187, 2003. 
Van Dongen, H.P.A., Maislin, G., Mullington, J.M., Dinges, D.F. The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: Dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation. Sleep 26: 117-126, 2003. 
Van Dongen, H.P.A., Rogers, N.L., Dinges, D.F. Sleep Debt: Theoretical and empirical issues. Sleep and Biological Rhythms 1: 5-13, 2003. 
Weaver, T.E., Maislin, G., Dinges, D.F., Younger, J., Cantor, C., McCloskey, S., Pack, A.I. Self-efficacy in sleep apnea: Instrumental development and patient perceptions of obstructive sleep apnea risk, treatment benefit, and volition to use continuous positive airway pressure. Sleep 26: 727-732, 2003. 
Chapters:
Mallis, M.M., Banks, S., Dinges, D.F.:Aircrew fatigue and Circadian Rhythmicity. In.: Salas, E. (Ed.), Human factors in Aviation (2nd ed.). Elsevier. (submitted)
Simpson, N.S., Banks, S., Punjabi, N.M., Dinges, D.F.: Sleep Duration and Mortality: A Review. (submitted).
Dinges, D.F. Foreword in book by Morrison, A.R., Human and Animals: A Personal Odyssey. (in press)
Dinges, D.F.: Field Study Pilot Test of Fatigue Management Technologies. In R.J. Carroll (Ed) 2005 International Conference on Fatigue Management in Transportation Operations Conference Proceedings, Seattle, Washington, Sept. 11-15, 2005, U.S. DOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Transport Canada. (in press).
Goel, N., Dinges, D.F.: Fatigue in: An Introduction to Human Factors in Aerospace. In: Davis, J.R., Johnson, R., Stepanek, J., Fogarty, J.A. (Eds.) Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine (4th edition). (in press).
Ballas, C., Dinges, D.F.: Wake-promoting and stimulant substances: Amphetamine, caffeine and modafinil. In: Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. (in press)
Minkel, J.D., Dinges, D.F.: Human circadian rhythms: Circadian rhythms in sleepiness, alertness, and performance. In: Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. (in press).
Minkel, J.D., Banks, S., Dinges, D.F.: Human sleep function: Neurobehavioral changes with sleep deprivation. In: Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. (in press).
Van Dongen, H.P., Mott, C.G., Huang, J-K., Mollicone, D.J., McKenzie, F.D., Dinges, D.F.: Confidence Intervals for Individualized Performance Models. Response to Reifman J; Rajaraman S; Gribok AV. Moving Towards Individualized Performance Models. Letter to the Editor. Sleep, 30(9):1081-82.
Dinges, D.F., Rogers, N.L.: The future of human intelligence: Enhancing cognitive capability in a 24/7 world. In: Kyllonen, PC, Roberts RD, Stankov L (Eds.) Extending Intelligence: Enhancement and New Constructs, NY, Lawrence Erlbaum Asso., pp. 407-430, 2008.
Dinges, D.F. (Editorial) Achieving our mission: Breadth in the best basic and clinical sleep research. Sleep, 30(8):951-952, 2007
Gunzelmann, G., Gluck, K. A., Kershner, J., Van Dongen, H. P. A., & Dinges, D. F. Understanding decrements in knowledge access resulting from increased fatigue. In D. S. McNamara & J. G. Trafton (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Austin, TX: pp. 329-334, 2007
Dinges, D.F. Foreword in book by Lavigne, G., Sessle, B.J., Choinière, M., Soja, P.J. (Eds.), Sleep and Pain. pp. xiii-xiv, 2007
Dinges D.F., Van Dongen, H.P.A.: Biomathematical Modeling Software for Astronaut Scheduling. NASA Final Technical Report for Project NCC 2-1394, pp. 1-15, April 17, 2007.
Gunzelmann, G., Gluck, K.A., Price, S., Van Dongen, H.P.A., Dinges, D.F.: Decreased Arousal as a Result of Sleep Deprivation: The Unraveling of Cognitive Control. In: W. Gray (Ed.), Integrated Models of Cognitive Systems. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 243-252, 2007.
Dinges, D.F.: (Editorial) SLEEP celebrates its 30th anniversary!. Sleep, 30(1):11, 2007.
Dinges, D.F., Weaver, T.E.: (Invited Editorial) The critical role of behavioral research for improving adherence to PAP therapies for sleep apnea. Behavioral Sleep Medicine 5(2): 79-82, 2007.
Mallis, M.M., Banks, S., Dinges, D.F.: Sleep and circadian control of neurobehavioral functions. In: Parasuraman, R. and Rizzo, M. (Eds.) Neuroergonomics: The Brain at Work. Oxford University Press, pp. 207-220, 2007.
Dinges, D.F.: (Editorial) Forum on critical topics - Sleep, adenosine, and the basal forebrain. Sleep, 29(11):1381-1381, 2006.
Dinges, D.F., Basner, M., Fomberstein, K., Ecker, A., Avinash, D., Effects of fatigue from night work and sleep loss on simulated threat detection performance. Proceedings of the 4th International Aviation Security Technology Symposium. Washington DC, Nov. 27 – Dec. 1, 2006.
Dinges, D.F.: (Invited Editorial) The state of sleep deprivation: From functional biology to functional consequences. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 10(5):303-305, 2006.
Dinges, D.F.: (Editorial) Sleep 2006 - 20th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC - June 17-22, 2006 - Salt Lake City, Utah. Sleep 29:AVII-AVII (Suppl. S), 2006.
Dinges, D.F.: (Editorial) Publishing the best original sleep research. Sleep 29(8):1000-1001, 2006.
Dorrian, J., Dinges, D.F.: Sleep deprivation and its effects on cognitive performance. (Chapter) In: Lee-Chiong, T. (Ed.) Sleep: A Comprehensive Handbook. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 139-143, 2006.
Dinges, D.F., Maislin, G.: Truck Driver Fatigue Management Survey. Final report to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, pp. 1-82, November 23, 2005.
Dinges, D.F., Maislin, G.: Identifying Factors Associated with Commercial Driver Fatigue. Final report to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, pp. 1-21, August 24, 2005.
Ballas, C.A., Evans, D.L., Dinges, D.F.: Psychostimulants in Psychiatry: Amphetamine, Methylphenidate and Modafinil. In: Essentials of Clinical Psychopharmacology (2nd edition). American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Washington, DC, pp. 275-285, 2005.
Dinges, D.F., Maislin, G., Brewster, R.M., Krueger, G.P., Carroll, R.J.: Pilot test of fatigue management technologies. TRB 2005 Annual Meeting CD ROM, 2005.
Dinges, D.F.: Sleep deprivation, impairment of resident performance, and medical error. The Orthopaedic forum. Symposium: Resident work-hour guidelines. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 87-A(11):2581-2582, 2005.
Dinges, Dinges, D.F.: Sleep deprivation/restriction: Effects on human cognitive performance and safety. In: Basics of Sleep Research Guide. Sleep Research Society, Westchester, IL, pp. 45-56, 2005. D.F.: (Invited Editorial) Can habitual sleep duration harbor sleep debt? Comment on Klerman EB; Dijk DJ. Interindividual variation in sleep duration and its association with sleep debt in young adults. Sleep;28(10):1253-1259, 2005.
Walsh, J.W., Dement, W.C., Dinges, D.F.: Sleep Medicine, Public Policy and Public Health. In: Kryger, M.H., Roth, T., Dement, W.C. (Eds.) Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine (4th edition), W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 648-656, 2005. 
Van Dongen, H.P.A., Dinges, D.F.: Circadian Rhythm in Sleepiness, Alertness and Performance. In: Kryger, M.H., Roth, T., Dement, W.C. (Eds.) Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine (4th edition), W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 435-443, 2005. 
Mallis, M.M., Dinges, D.F.: Monitoring Alertness and Drowsiness On-Line, Real-Time. In: Stanton, N., Hedge, A., Brookhuis , K., Salas, E., Hendrick, H. (Eds.) The Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods, CRC Press, New York, NY. pp. 25-1 - 25-6, 2005
Dorrian, J., Rogers, N.L., Dinges, D.F.: Psychomotor vigilance performance: A neurocognitive assay sensitive to sleep loss. In: Kushida, C. (Ed.), Sleep Deprivation: Clinical Issues, Pharmacology and Sleep Loss Effects. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, NY, pp. 39-70, 2005. 
Dinges, D.F., Baynard, M., Rogers, N.L.: Chronic Sleep Restriction. In: Kryger, M.H., Roth, T., Dement, W.C. (Eds.) Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine (4th edition), W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 67-76, 2005. 
Bonnet, MH, Balkin, TJ, Dinges, DF, Roehrs, T, Rogers, NL, Wesensten, NJ: The Use of Stimulants to Modify Performance During Sleep Loss: A Review by the Sleep Deprivation and Stimulant Task Force of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Sleep, 28(9):1163-1187, 2005. 
Van Dongen, H.P.A., Kerkhof, G.A., Dinges, D.F.: Human circadian rhythms. In: Sehgal, A. (Eds.) Molecular Biology of Circadian Rhythms, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, pp. 255-269, 2004.
Ballas, C., Evans, D.L., Dinges, D.F.: Amphetamine, Methylphenidate and Modafinil. In: Schatzberg, A.F. and Nemeroff, C.B. (Eds.) Textbook of Psychopharmacology (3rd edition), American Psychiatric Publishing, Washington, DC, pp. 671-684, 2004. 