Notes on Sleep
November-15-13 7:57 PM
• Originally believed that everything slowed down/stopped initially
• Not a simple reduction of activity
• More activity during wakefulness doesn’t mean we sleep longer/more
• There are more mechanisms that relate to sleep/arousal than originally thought
• Sleep is not passive
• Enigma
• Sleep important for several things
• Motor vehicle accidents
○ Mean age was 30
○ Of 957 people, 74-80% had near crashes at night
○ Night shifts are problematic
○ Greater ability to overcome drowsiness
○ MVA were positively correlated with number of night shifts worked
• Two days without sleep will throw your system off- 1 day wont
• Restoration provides growth
○ Stages 3-4- hormones increase
○ Healing, production of neurons
○ Rejuvenates everything
○ Affects immune system functioning
○ 1 night doesn’t do much impact- you do recover from it
• Energy conservation
○ Conserve energy through mitochondria
○ Adaptive for animals
○ Animals who are food for other animals get less sleep
• Memory consolidation
○ Forgetfulness
○ Slow wave sleep- declarative memory
○ REM sleep- spatial/procedural memory
○ Effortful activity is increased after you sleep- your better able to retain information (if its not
memorizing material)
▪ Memorizing doesn’t matter with amount of sleep
▪ Some people do not believe memory is involved in sleep
• National Sleep Foundation
○ Adults need 7-9 hours for optimal performance/safety
▪ Sleep debt- sleep deprivation
○ Pull off road
○ Caffeine takes 30 minutes to kick in
○ Less sleep = larger sleep debt
○ Blood pressure can raise
○ Impairs body for insulin
○ Sleep patterns do not change
▪ Older people may wake more but they still only need 7-9 hours
▪ They may make up for this by taking naps
○ Drift from REM + NREM- 90 minute cycle
▪ Stages 3-4- awakening is hard (however, mind is still processing information)
Sleep Deprivation
Biological Psychology Page 1
November-15-13 7:57 PM
• Originally believed that everything slowed down/stopped initially
• Not a simple reduction of activity
• More activity during wakefulness doesn’t mean we sleep longer/more
• There are more mechanisms that relate to sleep/arousal than originally thought
• Sleep is not passive
• Enigma
• Sleep important for several things
• Motor vehicle accidents
○ Mean age was 30
○ Of 957 people, 74-80% had near crashes at night
○ Night shifts are problematic
○ Greater ability to overcome drowsiness
○ MVA were positively correlated with number of night shifts worked
• Two days without sleep will throw your system off- 1 day wont
• Restoration provides growth
○ Stages 3-4- hormones increase
○ Healing, production of neurons
○ Rejuvenates everything
○ Affects immune system functioning
○ 1 night doesn’t do much impact- you do recover from it
• Energy conservation
○ Conserve energy through mitochondria
○ Adaptive for animals
○ Animals who are food for other animals get less sleep
• Memory consolidation
○ Forgetfulness
○ Slow wave sleep- declarative memory
○ REM sleep- spatial/procedural memory
○ Effortful activity is increased after you sleep- your better able to retain information (if its not
memorizing material)
▪ Memorizing doesn’t matter with amount of sleep
▪ Some people do not believe memory is involved in sleep
• National Sleep Foundation
○ Adults need 7-9 hours for optimal performance/safety
▪ Sleep debt- sleep deprivation
○ Pull off road
○ Caffeine takes 30 minutes to kick in
○ Less sleep = larger sleep debt
○ Blood pressure can raise
○ Impairs body for insulin
○ Sleep patterns do not change
▪ Older people may wake more but they still only need 7-9 hours
▪ They may make up for this by taking naps
○ Drift from REM + NREM- 90 minute cycle
▪ Stages 3-4- awakening is hard (however, mind is still processing information)
Sleep Deprivation
Biological Psychology Page 1
