Journal-related information

César Timo-Iaria, memories on the function of sleep and the dreaming rat
Acquaintanceship with Prof. César Timo-Iaria was always stimulating, provocative and inspiring. One of the assertions made by the esteemed master was about sleep and wakefulness, which I can quote by heart: “Sleep is the normal state of the organism; wakefulness serves to replace the conditions for the body to sleep again”. Many of us may not agree with this, but it is, no doubt, and invitation to debate and reflection, in addition to a stimulus do pursue evidence or rebuttal. As to sleep in rats, César was emphatic: “Rats do dream and move their vibrissae or whiskers according to what they are dreaming”, another fertile provocation. Today, it is up to his countless disciples to maintain active the questioning spirit of the great master.

Prof. César Timo-Iaria, (07/25/1924 – 06/27/2005), graduation and post-graduation, professional career at University of São Paulo (School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, ICB and, again, School of Medicine) His main areas of research:
• Sleep and wakefulness mechanisms.
• Metabolism neural control.
• Vegetative components of behaviors.
• Immune system neural regulation.
• Metabolism neural regulation.

Origins of Chronobiogy in Brazil
The first record of material published by a Brazilian doctor on Chronobiology appeared in the 70s in a book written by one of the professionals responsible for the physical conditioning of the famous Brazilian soccer team winner of the world championship. As far as we know, only in the following decade did a group of researchers from Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da USP (USP Biomedical Sciences Institute) decide to focus their research activities on this area of knowledge, which was already advanced in European and North American countries. As member of this original group, I had the opportunity to testify remarkable episodes along the process for implementing the “chronobiological way of thinking” in the Brazilian academic community. Perhaps the fiercest opposition derived from the widespread but seldom discussed concept/principle of homeostasis. The expectation of an organism "wise enough" to regulate its functioning around average values resulted in the generation of the concept that these average values represent normality. Upon bringing this concept to the field of studies on sleep we will get to the conclusion that if average is the expression of normality, then our normal state is sleepiness. Thus, understanding normality as oscillation represents the major challenge these days, when we are endeavoring to implement Chronobiology in our scientific community.