West Virginia University officially pulls the covers off its new Sleep and Sleep Disorders Laboratory at an open house Thursday, Jan. 18.

The event will be from 4-7 p.m. in Room 2324 Life Sciences Building (east end of the 2nd floor research wing). Parking is free in nearby Lot 7 (at the corner of Beechurst Avenue and Campus Drive) after 5 p.m.

The two-bedroom lab completed last fall was designed with a homey feel, with rooms that have two beds (one for the subject and one for a parent or attendant); hardwood furniture; a television; state-of-the-art sound dampening; and independent climate control.

A magnetic locking system insures privacy for the shared bathroom and shower.

Subjects are monitored from an adjacent control center via high resolution audio and video and multi-channel polysomnography recording systems in each room.

Polysomnography is a facet of sleep research that uses several sensors to measure brain activity, eye movement, muscle tension, respiration, blood oxidization and pulse.

The lab also houses an assessment/observation room with a one-way mirror, and laundry, storage, meeting and kitchen facilities.

Dr. Hawley Montgomery-Downs, assistant professor of psychology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, oversees the lab, performing her own research as well as supervising undergraduate and graduate studentsresearch.

Two ongoing studies are looking at sleep patterns of mothers and infants: one is a field study of the influence of sleep disturbance occurring after childbirth on mothersdaytime functioning; and the other studies feeding methods and pediatric sleep-disordered breathing in premature infants.

A third project in the future will examine the influence of environmental tobacco smoke exposure on the development of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing.

Montgomery-Downs earned her doctorate in developmental psychobiology from the University of Connecticut in 2001. She joined WVU in 2005 and is also an adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics.

Shes also a member of the Behavioral Neuroscience Group at the WVU Center for Neuroscience.

Info: hawley.montgomery-downs@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-2001, ext. 31610.