Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation

The average weight of an adult in the United States is around 176 pounds, but when sleep deprived, it may feel like 300 pounds. The simple task of walking from one place to another transforms into a treacherous mountain-climb. Eye-lids become firm bricks. Why can’t the human body just go without sleep for twenty-four hours and feel normal? Unfortunately, that is not how it works, and the body struggles without rest. Insomnia affects more than most people know, and even if they do know, not many are sure why the symptoms occur.

This is a short article written by a collaboration of people by a company named Today’s Science. Their main goal was to describe the pattern of sleep a human goes through during the night. This cycle is called NREM and REM, non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement. They mostly describe what happens during sleep because without sleeping you could not dream. Dreaming occurs during the rapid eye movement cyc

One part of this article that I think is irrelevant is paragraph five. “Scientists have long puzzled over the purpose of sleep.” doesn’t relate to the topic of what genetic consequences sleep deprivation has. One thing I would clarify, is what changes were they looking for in the RNA (paragraph eleven). Another thing I would prefer to be explained is if being sleep deprived can make us have a petulant behavior and/or if it can affect the way we

Sleep deprivation and sleep disorders among college students is an area of concern among researchers, because of the relationship between quality sleep and quality of academic performance. The factors that have been shown to affect sleep quality or sleep patterns include staying up late, using social networking, and partying. This research uses a simple, unique survey instrument. A total of fifty college students participated in the study. Results substantiate the hypothesis that social media use is heavy among college students, and that the use of social media will be correlated with less sleep and less effective study habits. Future research may discover ways of helping students develop more balanced approaches to their academic, online, and social lives.

REM or rapid eye movement, also referred to as paradoxical sleep, is the process when the brain is more active and the body’s muscles become relaxed and incapacitated. During this process, dreams occur due to activity in the brain and the voluntary muscles are immobilized. REM sleep is defined by rapid movement of the eyes, raised respiratory rate and elevated brain activity. The American Sleep Foundation says people spend 25 percent of their total sleep in this stage.

In my article about Sleep Deprivation Boosts Anticipatory Anxiety a correlation exists between sleep deprivation and increased levels of anxiety. The research team at UC Berkeley suggests when someone is sleep deprived and anticipating either a neutral or disturbing image to appear, activity in the emotional brain centers increases, thus indicating an elevated level of anxiety. This correlation, however, does not indicate causation. Causation would imply that sleep deprivation alone is what causes elevated levels of anxiety. This could be false because increased activity in the emotional brain centers could be caused by other factors instead sleep deprivation. For example, external stresses such as a big test coming up could be elevating activity

As I began my research, I wanted to discover more information about a person’s sleep cycle stages. I started with a general search on the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire’s library page. The general search engine referred me to a book titled, “Mayo Clinic Family Health Book.” The reliability is shown within the title itself. Mayo Clinic is a reliable source because it is one of the largest corporations that distribute the knowledge of many different doctors. The purpose of this nonprofit organization is to use its information to address and inform average individuals about medical care and

Rapid-eye movement sleep is distinguished from non-REM sleep in a number of ways.  Almost all the muscles of the body fall into a paralysis upon the onset of REM sleep.  The eyes, while still closed, dart up and down, or left and right, in patterns distinguishable from other sleep stages.  The brain becomes more active as indicated by EEG patterns, with waveforms similar to those while awake.  While body temperature slowly declines following sleep onset, in stage REM sleep, the body reaches its lowest core temperature.  Pulse and respiratory rate slowdown in non-REM sleep.  Blood pressure increases and this is the stage in which most dreaming occurs.(Kaye Sellman, 2016)  Sleep cycles last approximately 90 to 100 minutes and may repeat four to five times a night. If sleep patterns are interrupted too many times, a person will awaken feeling tired. A person's level of alertness depends on the stage of sleep he was in when awakened. In Stage 1 or 2, the person is more likely to wake up feeling alert and refreshed. If he is roused during REM, they can remember their dreams better. But if he is awakened from Stage 3 or 4, he may experience sleep inertia, a state of confusion, and diminished performance experienced on waking suddenly from a deep sleep or a

Rapid eye movement sleep or REM sleep is a stage of the natural sleep cycle occurring in Humans. According to Nairne (2014), REM sleep is paradoxical since the brain’s electrical activity appears as if awake with extremely active activity taking place as interpreted by an EEG. As the name indicates while in the stage of REM sleep the eyes move rapidly from left to right, up and down while the rest of the body is extremely relaxed. When the body does not achieve REM sleep be it intentional for research or unintentional possibly due to a sleep disorder, it can lead to REM rebound according to Nairne (2014). REM rebound is a tendency which the body attempts

In 1940s researchers from Russia used five war prisoners in an experiment to find out effects of sleep deprivation. Although the plan was to do the research for 30 days, the prisoners were kept awake using gas based stimulant for almost fifteen days due to what happened during the experiment. The prisoners were promised that if they remain awake for thirty days would be freed from the prison.

In order to maintain the function and health of the body it requires sleep. In the 1920’s, scientists believed that the brain would go into an inactive state during sleep. In 1929, the invention of the EEG (electroencephalogram) allowed scientists to view the brain activity in a more indepth way. The EEG now can measure eye movements and muscle activity. REM and NREM are the two types of sleep (Harvard). REM, or rapid-eye-movement, is also known as “active sleep”. Sleep experts believe the brain dreams during this phase of sleep. This phase of sleep temporarily paralyzes our arms and legs so that we do not harm ourselves while acting out our dreams. NREM, or non-rapid-eye-movement, has three different stages: N1, N2, and N3. As the

According the the website the Gallup “Medical studies have related a lack of sleep to health problems and cognitive impairment. Therefore, experts typically recommend seven to nine hours sleep for adults. Currently, 59% of U.S. adults meet that standard, but in 1942, 84% did. That means four in 10 Americans get less than the recommended amount of nightly sleep, compared with the 11% who did so 70 years ago.” One may feel like sleep deprivation effects just their mood, but it can also affect their mind and their physical performance.

 A most popular theory on why we sleep is the restorative theory of sleep:

Rapid eye movement (REM) was discovered in 1953, when Nathaniel Kleitman and Eugene Aserinsky were studying sleep deprivation in children. Aserinsky noticed that the children’s eyes began quickly darting as they began to lose attention and fall asleep, which was much different from the slow eye movement present at sleep onset. The fast movement was comparable to when someone is awake. Further research showed that during sleep, periods of highly coordinated eye movement is accompanied by distinct brain wave patterns, irregular breathing, and increased heart rate. This proved that the brain does not shut off when a person falls asleep and turn back on in the morning. REM is a series of cycles at consistent points during the night when the brain becomes very active. During a typical night of sleep, an adult follows the regular alteration cycle of REM and NREM, non-rapid eye movement. There are four stages of

What caused scientists to link memory and sleep, particularly SWS? Research as early as 1914 began to point to a decrease in memory capacity capabilities