The Hamilton Health Lab is directed by Associate Professor Dr. Nancy Hamilton in the Department of Psychology at the University of Kansas. The lab focuses on research related to sleep, dreaming and nightmares, as they relate to physical and mental health. We are particularly interested in understanding posttrauma nightmares and using that information to develop interventions.
The Hamilton Health Lab investigates various aspects of trauma and sleep through multiple projects. We assess trauma prevalence and its effects on sleep and PTSD in students (STAND), identify triggers for posttrauma nightmares in sexual assault survivors (AT NIGHT), explore how sleep impacts recovery after sexual assault (Project Mindy), analyze emotional content in dreams using AI (The Dream Machine), and develop strategies to improve sleep quality for firefighters (Project Fire).
STAND assesses traumatic experiences and posttrauma symptoms among KU students, by examining sex differences in trauma exposure and response, and exploring the impact of sleep on the development of PTSD symptoms.
The Dream Machine is a collection of projects designed to use AI technology to understand the emotional content in dreams.
Project Fire is a collection of projects designed to understand the unique sleep problems faced by career and volunteer firefighters and ultimately to develop strategies to improve sleep quality either by changing environmental sources of sleep disturbance or by addressing individual sleep problems.
Project Mindy aims to understand how sleep changes in the six months following sexual assault to develop interventions that prevent the progression from trauma to PTSD symptoms.
AT Night uses ambulatory assessment and a longitudinal design to identify antecedents of posttrauma nightmares in individuals with trauma-related nightmares from sexual assault.
This project aims to examine the environmental characteristics associated with negative sleep performance in career fire fighters.
This project looks to develop and assess metrics of micro-arousal during sleep from polysomnography signals, primarily electroencephalogram.
My work emphasizes sleep’s role in mental health, health behaviors, and social stress. Currently, I focus on posttrauma nightmares (PTN) and community-engaged projects with fire and rescue services, including developing AI tools for PTN research and exploring the trajectory of sleep symptoms from trauma to treatment.
My research interests include the relationship between sleep and emotional health, such as the etiology and treatment of posttraumatic nightmares and other sleep disorders.
My research interests are focused on understanding the role of arousability and awareness during sleep, particularly focused on behavioral sleep disorders and obstructive sleep apnea.
If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to reach out to us using the contact details below.