Investigation Of Sleep Essay

09-09-2012 Day 1: I went to sleep at 1:00 am and woke up at 6:11 am. The dream was that my grandmother passed away and that I had nobody to confide in. It got to a point where I just went

“Why do we sleep?” is a very popular questions that many humans ask today. Sleep is very sufficient to the human body. If it was not important, then God would not have designed for a third of our life to be occupied by sleep. During this time period, many people are interested to know what is a good amount of sleep and what are the harmful effects to not getting enough sleep.

We then began thinking more specifically by looking at how much sleep on average freshmen, sophomore, junior and seniors get per night

I have completed the sleep assessment and I am not surprise with the outcome it gave me. The results showed that my sleep habits could be better. Some days are better than others, but generally, I do wake up drowsy and hitting my alarm clock once or twice. I admit, I usually stay up on my phone past midnight like any other young adult. If it is not my phone that is keeping me up at night, it’s usually my mind reminding me of all the stress that may be going on in my life.

There are a few factors that are essential for life such as breathing or eating, but one of the most essential factor is sleep. Even though the amount of sleep people need differs from one individual to another, the fact is that eventually everyone needs to sleep. People know the importance of sleep, but due to the increased workload and the pressure of society people are getting less sleep. As a result, there has been an increase interest on the effects lack of sleep has on the mind especially the memory of a person. Many questions arose about the relationship between sleep and memory due to the fact most high school and college students have become sleep deprived. For example, does more sleep mean higher grades?

Everyone needs sleep and it will make a day go smoothly or completely ruin someone’s rest of the day. Every human, animal, and most insects require a sufficient amount of sleep to function normally thought-out their day and night. On average humans need about seven to ten hours of sleep, as a normal requirement for the brain to recover conventionally. However, 40-50 percent of Americans do not get enough sleep every night (Information on Insomnia, n.d.). Lack of time or stressful living schedule may hinder there sleeping time. Others may have a disorder that causes them to have horrible sleep experiences and not being able to sleep.

I joined the UC Davis Sleep lab to get a better idea of how sleep labs worked. Similar to the actigraphy measurements, electroencephalogram (EEG) is another method allowing insight into sleep patterns. Looking at EEG data is fascinating since I can visualize the sleeping pattern of the patient throughout their stages of sleep. It is like intruding on their sleep for the benefit of understanding the workings of their brain. Applying and interpreting different analytical models and programs will enhance my techniques in understanding sleep. From this lab, obtaining knowledge of using these models will help to interpret data from various sleep studies and to expand designing and planning for future graduate

These stages are characterized by bursts of electrical activity on electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. EEG readings monitor electrical activity representing neuronal activity in specific neurophysiological regions. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is characterized by desynchronized, saw-toothed theta rhythm waves and heightened cognitive activity. Comparatively, high amplitude, synchronous delta waves, and sharp hippocampal waves characterize slow wave sleep (SWS) sleep (stages 3-4 of non-REM sleep) (Tucker et al. 2006).

The stages of non-REM sleep, stages 1–3, are defined by EEG activity. Slow-wave sleep in stage 3 is the deepest stage of sleep. Alertness consists of desynchronized beta activity (13–30 Hz); relaxation and drowsiness consist of alpha activity (8–12 Hz); stage 1 sleep consists of alternating periods of alpha activity, irregular fast activity, and theta activity (3.5–7.5 Hz); the EEG of stage 2 sleep lacks alpha activity but contains sleep spindles (short periods of 12–14 Hz activity) and occasional K complexes; stage 3 sleep primarily consists of delta activity. About 90 minutes after the beginning of sleep, people enter REM sleep. Thereafter, cycles of REM and non-REM sleep occur in periods of approximately 90 minutes. Muscle tone decreases throughout the stages, resulting in deepest relaxation and paralysis in REM sleep (Carlson & Birkett, p. 268).

We tend to think of sleep as a time when the mind and body shut down. But this is not the case; sleep is an active period in which a lot of important processing, restoration, and strengthening occurs. Exactly how this happens and why our bodies are programmed for such a long period of slumber is still somewhat of a mystery. But scientists do understand some of sleep's critical functions, and the reasons we need it for optimal health and wellbeing.

This stage is believed to help people enter deeper stages of sleep (4). Stage 3 sleep consists of 20-50 percent delta activity and stage 4 sleep of more than 50 percents delta activity (4). Stages 3 and 4 are characterized as being slow wave sleep in addition to being the deepest levels of sleep. Approximately 90 minutes after being asleep, people enter rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (4). REM sleep consists of rapid eye movements, a desynchronized EEG, sensitivity to external stimulation, muscle paralysis and dreaming (4).

“The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to, then forcing oneself to stay awake for days on end must surely come a close second.”

There are five stages of sleep, numbered one through four and REM (Rapid-Eye-Movement) sleep. Upon falling asleep, the brain and body goes through each stage to comprise sleep cycle which approximately has a duration of 90 minutes. Stage One commences when the body and brain begin to relax. During this stage, heart beat slows down, breathing becomes regular, and blood pressure tends to decrease (Huffman. K, 2011, p.174). In addition, brain activity starts to shift, moving from beta waves to the slower alpha waves. Despite being deeply relaxed in this stage, it is still very easy to be awakened (Huffman. K, 2011, p.174). Following Stage 1, the mind and body move to Stage Two. In this stage the body becomes more relaxed so it is less aware of its surroundings (Huffman. K, 2011, p.174). Short burst of rapid brain waves known as sleep spindles, “can be visually observed against the background of an electroencephalogram (EEG)” (Fogel, S. M., Nader, R., Cote, K. A., & Smith, C. T. (2007). Sleep spindles and learning potential. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121(1), 1-10). Following Stage Two, Stages Three and Four take place. These stages are much deeper levels of sleep because

 There are five stages of sleep, REM and NREM stages 1, 2, 3, & 4.

Importance of Sleep It has been proposed, by some, that humans do not really need to sleep, and that we do so only out of habit. However, much research would suggest otherwise. It is true that some individuals (e.g. those suffering from insomnia) are able to live on very small amounts of sleep, but nevertheless, they do need some. Studies of sleep deprivation have found that there may be severe consequences of not sleeping at. Randy Gardner, for example, went without sleep for 11 nights.