EXPERTS from all over the world are gathering in the region to mark the opening of the first sleep research centre of its kind in the UK.

It means that people in the North-East with sleep problems should be among the first to benefit from new therapies.

The interior of the centre, at Northumbria University, looks like an everyday apartment, with a kitchen, living room and two en-suite bedrooms.

But step outside the front door and you realise you are in the university’s School of Life Sciences.

It is hoped the Newcastle centre will provide a more natural environment for volunteer sleepers – and lead to a better quality research of sleep patterns and disorders.

Dr Jason Ellis, director of the new centre, has invited leading international sleep specialists to a week-long conference, which will climax with the unveiling of the facility.

The bedrooms are fitted with closed-circuit television cameras that relay pictures to the control room, where Dr Ellis and his team of research students monitor sleepers.

Bluetooth-enabled sensors worn by the subjects send back wireless telemetry, allowing the real-time monitoring of physiological data.

“All the other centres in the country are really just beds in laboratories,” said Dr Ellis.

“We believe that the more natural and comfortable the environment, the more relaxed people will be and the more typical a night’s sleep they will have,” he added.

The conference will include lectures from insomnia specialists from the US and Canada.

Dr Ellis believes the centre puts Northumbria at the forefront of sleep research in the UK.

“Each year GPs write ten million prescriptions for sleep medication, costing £15m. The research we carry out aims to alleviate that through creating greater knowledge about sleep and sleep problems.

“We are also running clinical treatment trials, so not only is this new facility going to shed light on many of the mysteries of sleep, it is also going to allow us to help people with sleep problems in the North-East.”

The centre is seeking volunteers so that their sleep patterns can be studied. Dr Ellis is particularly interested in people with insomnia, parents of children with sleep problems, children of parents with insomnia, good sleepers and school leavers.

Those interested should contact ls.ncsr@northumbria.ac.uk