http://www.abc.net.au/science/sleep/facts.htm40 FACTS ABOUT SLEEP YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW...
(OR WERE TOO TIRED TO THINK ABOUT)
-The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.
- It's impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.
- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.
- A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year
- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.
- The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper.
- REM sleep occurs in bursts totalling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.
- Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.
- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.
- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film
- No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans.
- Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.
- Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting - to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.
- Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations - sleep and consciousness.
- REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term bubs. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hampster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.
- Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.
- British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers' body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers' retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.
- Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.
- The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.
- The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents.
- Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.
- The "natural alarm clock" which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.
- Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period.
- In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.
- Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a "neural switch" in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.
- To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain's sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That's why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.
- A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won't dream much.
- After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you've slept enough.
- Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.
- Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.
- Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnoea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
- Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep
- Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal
- Some studies suggest women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.
- Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.
- Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.
- Most of what we know about sleep we've learned in the past 25 years.
- As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.
- Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.
- The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.
[ot] 40 facts about sleep you probably didn't know..
[ot] 40 facts about sleep you probably didn't know..
???
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Pitch Black
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Re: [ot] 40 facts about sleep you probably didn't know..
yeah, not getting it makes me depressed tooleonard wrote:
and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.
WTF????- Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.
This is definitely true - I'm often shocked at how much more capable I am physically and mentally when I do get that rare proper kip, and this generally lasts all through the day.- Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.
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liveISlife
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Re: [ot] 40 facts about sleep you probably didn't know..
In my younger days when I used to take certain dodgy tablets for a laugh I actually had a really full on experience once where this really strong one made me haver dreams while I was awake when I closed my eyes - really vividleonard wrote: - Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.
- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.
- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film
the really scary thing is since that time I started finding it would happen when totally sober just maybe if I was a bit tired - it was like it clicked something in my brain - I even still get it occasionally, but it's a lot fainter than it was
so stay away from those dodgy chemicals kids!
Re: [ot] 40 facts about sleep you probably didn't know..
i sometimes get hypnagogia, haven't had it for years, was fairly prevalent during late teens/early twenties. had this really full on one the other night, was laying in my bed, staring at my window, which i thought was a door. anyway there was this guy (i think, scary being thing) going through all these rooms checking for me, i could hear him opening and closing door after door, gradually getting closer and closer. then these god awful screams materialise and float in great reverberation out my window, upon which time i realised i was in my room staring at the scene which was my window . after a moment of panic i managed to snap out of it. crazy, but exhilarating at the same time..forge wrote:leonard wrote: - Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.
- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.
- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film
In my younger days when I used to take certain dodgy tablets for a laugh I actually had a really full on experience once where this really strong one made me haver dreams while I was awake when I closed my eyes - really vivid
the really scary thing is since that time I started finding it would happen when totally sober just maybe if I was a bit tired - it was like it clicked something in my brain - I even still get it occasionally, but it's a lot fainter than it was
so stay away from those dodgy chemicals kids!
???
this is what i find also interesting, that increasingly more parts of us can be mapped to electrochemical/electromagnetic responses. just as we can now control computers by monitoring voltages across the scalp, maybe one day we can hook up a 'dream monitor', to visually (and maybe audibly) record dreams, even thoughts. seems closer now than just a 'pie in the sky'.- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film
???
Actually that reminds me of a particular dream that I usually get when very sleep deprived, which I think comes from the physical sense of my head being completely burnt out.leonard wrote:i sometimes get hypnagogia, haven't had it for years, was fairly prevalent during late teens/early twenties. had this really full on one the other night, was laying in my bed, staring at my window, which i thought was a door. anyway there was this guy (i think, scary being thing) going through all these rooms checking for me, i could hear him opening and closing door after door, gradually getting closer and closer. then these god awful screams materialise and float in great reverberation out my window, upon which time i realised i was in my room staring at the scene which was my window . after a moment of panic i managed to snap out of it. crazy, but exhilarating at the same time..forge wrote:leonard wrote: - Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.
- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.
- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film
In my younger days when I used to take certain dodgy tablets for a laugh I actually had a really full on experience once where this really strong one made me haver dreams while I was awake when I closed my eyes - really vivid
the really scary thing is since that time I started finding it would happen when totally sober just maybe if I was a bit tired - it was like it clicked something in my brain - I even still get it occasionally, but it's a lot fainter than it was
so stay away from those dodgy chemicals kids!
Anyway usually what happens is I've been forcing myself to stay awake for so many hours that I find it difficult to go asleep - when it finally happens I find myself in an 'alter' place, either asleep in my own bed or in some kind of dorm with concreted floors/walls (I have rarely if ever slept in a dorm), sometimes with an electrical storm going on outside.
Normally what happens is I suddenly realise there is someone else in the room and try to turn around/get up - only problem is, I'm physically prevented from doing that. No problem - I know this is a dream so all I need to do is wake up right? Wrong. I can't fucking wake up no matter how hard I try. Nothing worse than exerting all of your (perceived) physical and mental power trying to awaken and not being able to do it for what seems like several minutes.
My friend and I have also discovered that we both have encountered an effect of sleep deprivation that we like to call 'shadow people'. This is where during the day after not getting any sleep (especially in bright environs) you see a dark region in the periphery of your vision like a person or whatever which is only there for a moment, like the shadow of someone who's walked up behind and a couple of feet to the left or right of you. I hate the shadow people
All of this is why this statement worries me greatly (emphasis added):
Worrying that pilots carrying massively destrictive weapons would be sleep-deprived so commonly that they felt the need to come up with something like this.- British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers' body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers' retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.
[edit: on rereading that last sentence doesn't really read clearly. Sorry - I was tired when I wrote it...]
Last edited by rozling on Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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weeddigger
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9 hours and a 30 minute nap every day have served me well. It makes the difference between just "getting through" the day and being creative and productive. I hate feeling groggy. I thrive in a well rested state and find it as vital to my health as proper diet and regular exercise.
"Let you're body feel the sound! Let it cover you up and down!"
