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How Does Sleep Deprivation?

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Energy Conservation Theory This theory is also known as the evolutionary theory or the adaptive theory of sleep and is one of the earliest theories that arose. The simplest explanation of the theory is that energy demand and expenditure is decreased during sleep due to sleep being such an inactive ‘activity.’ Endotherms use much of their energy for homeostatic purposes, especially for regulating their core body temperature. The theory that we sleep in order to conserve energy came from the observation that our core body temperature decreases by 1 degree during sleep resulting in reduced metabolic energy cost. This hypothesis was supported by the observations that smaller animals with higher metabolic rates slept for longer periods of time than larger animals with lower metabolic rates and ectotherms (such as reptiles) that do not need to maintain their core body temperature, slept less than endotherms. In terms of natural selection, a species that sleeps more than a …show more content…

The whole-body energy expenditure was monitored using an indirect calorimeter throughout the habitual day and night. The effects of baseline, sleep deprivation and recovery sleep on energy expenditure was measured over a period of three days by adjusting the number of hours slept and kept awake. Variables such as diet and sleeping habit were controlled prior to the experiments to obtain the most accurate results possible. The results of this experiment showed that energy expenditure increased during the sleep deprivation stage compared to the baseline and the opposite occurred for recovery sleep, supporting the hypothesis that sleep does reduce energy expenditure conserving energy and sleep deprivation increases metabolic

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