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Research of sleeping habits
Effects of lack of sleep
Effects of lack of sleep
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Sleep is a natural persisting state of mind and body which is also a basic need of human. The hormone that control sleep and wake cycle is called a Melatonin. Melatonin is secreted by the smallest gland in the brain called the pineal gland.
Sleep is divided into two types non-rapid eye moment and Rapid eye moment. Non-REM sleep is a first stage, which is dreamless sleep. In this stage, the vital signs are slow and regular; respiration, heart rate and blood pressure. Rapid Eye Moment sleep occurs in cycles of about 90-120 minutes throughout the night. The vital signs are more rapid and irregular during this stage. Sufficient sleep helps to boost the brain power which contributes to several important cognitive, emotional and performance related
functions; helps in operating complex tasks better and more consistently. Insufficient sleep leads to sleep disorder which significantly affects the human mental as well as physical health in different ways that can also be life threatening. Reduction in memory capabilities and learning abilities, aggressiveness and negative mood, inconsistent performance, poor productivity and many other psychological problems are associated with sleepiness. Adolescence is a time of independence increment and emergence of new social roles, all of which affect behavior; sleep is no exception. Adolescents are the most sleep deprived populations in our society. The effects of environmental factors such as work and school schedules on sleep are the factors that leads to sleep disorders in adolescence; the school day are unprepared for the cognitive and social challenges. (Carskadon, 2002) The adolescence age group need about 6 to 8 hours of sleep each night to function best. Nowadays, most of the people of this age group tend to have irregular sleep patterns with various reason. The individual of this age group typically stay up late for various reason like watching tv, electronic device, social media, social engagement, exams, too much worried about things, depressed, feeling hopeless about the future, health problems etc. These factors decrease the quality of sleep and increases drowsiness during the day. The main cause of changes in sleeping pattern is caused by increasing accessibility of advance technology that has fascinated the older adolescents. The negative result associated with poor sleeping pattern are low immune system, sleepiness, obesity, negative mood, behavior problems, inability to stay focused poor performance in studies and traffic crashes.
Before discussing the role of NREM and REM in learning, it is necessary to clarify the identity of and differences between the two. This type of sleep is marked by different stages based on different the different brainwaves exhibited. REM sleep differs from NREM in that most dreams occur during REM sleep although the two activities are not synonymous. REM is also marked by an incre...
In order to discuss Melatonin as a drug and its effects on behavior we need to define Melatonin and what role it plays in relation to brain and behavior. Melatonin is a hormone that is secreted into the bloodstream by the pineal gland. The pineal gland is a small, pea sized structure near the center of the brain. Signals from the eyes regulate the secretion of Melatonin. A person's internal clock, will fluctuate between a 23-25 hour a day cycle. Therefore, our Melatonin levels decrease and increase with the rising and setting of the sun, which aid to putting an individual on a 24 hour awake/sleep cycle.(1)
Getting sufficient sleep is a basic human need and is vital for life. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, sleep is a high priority for survival. Having enough sleep is therefore important to restore body and brain functions, preserve energy, maintain general well-being and prevent illnesses.
We live our entire life in two states, sleep and awake1. These two states are characterized by two distinct behaviors. For instance, the brain demonstrates a well-defined activity during non-REM sleep (nREM) that is different when we are awake. In the study of sleep by Huber et. al., the authors stated that sleep is in fact a global state2. It is unclear whether this statement means that sleep is a state of global behavioural inactivity or the state of the global nervous system. The notion that sleep is a global state of the nervous system served as basis for sleep researchers to search for a sleep switch. The discovery of the sleep switch, in return, provided evidence and enhanced the notion that sleep is a global state of the nervous system. The switch hypothesis developed from the fact that sleep can be initiated without fatigue and it is reversible1. It was hypothesized that there is something in the brain that has the ability to control the whole brain and initiate sleep. Studies have found a good candidate that demonstrated this ability3. They found a group of neurons in the Ventrolateral Preoptic (VLPO) nucleus. It was a good candidate because it was active during sleep, has neuronal output that can influence the wakefulness pathway, and lesion in the area followed reduce sleep3. The idea that there is something that can control the whole brain and result sleep state supports the idea that sleep is a global state of the nervous system.
Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland. The pineal gland is about the size of a pea and is located in the center of the brain (http://www.milatonin.com/melfaq.htm). Melatonin is secreted at night or in the dark (http://www.ceri.com/melaton.htm). It is used to regulate the sleeping cycle. It is also found to correlate with a lot of other functions and problems in the body. Because of its many uses, melatonin is being manufactured by pharmaceutical companies as a dietary supplement. People are using it to treat everything from jet lag to cancer. There have been many studies done on the effects of melatonin. The bulk of the studies have been done on the effects of melatonin on sleep and on treating jet-lag. The findings show that melatonin is proven to be an effective sleep aid and also help alleviate jet lag.
Sleep is one of our basic needs to survive and to function in day to day operations, but not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Some people can survive on very little sleep, i.e. five hours a night, and some people need a lot of sleep, to the extend that they are sleeping up to 10 to sometimes 15 hours a night (Nature, 2005). According to Wilson (2005) the general rule states that most people need from seven to eight hours of sleep. The deprivation of sleep in our society in continually increasing with the demands in society increasing work loads, the myth that a few hours of sleep is only necessary to function properly and that sleep is sometimes considered as killing time (Nature, 2005). Sometimes sleep deprivation is also caused by other situations like sleep disorders, i.e. sleep apnea, chronic insomnia or medical conditions such as stress (Wilson, 2005).
the sleeper will gradually descend deeper into sleep, becoming more and more detached from the outside world and progressively more difficult to awaken. Stage three is the beginning of deep sleep, occurring about thirty to forty five minutes after you first fall asleep. The deepest sleep occurs in Stage four. Stage three and four has the biggest and slowest brain wave. REM sleep, a mentally active period during which dreaming occurs, provided a biological explanation for this phenomenon. Scientists found that brain activity during REM sleep begins in the pons, a structure in the brainstem, and neighboring midbrain regions. The pons sends signals to the thalamus and to the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for most thought processes. There are several myths about sleep. For one, how much sleep a person should get? According to our text book people should sleep for at least eight hours to maintain sound mental and physical health. But every one doesn’t get the chance to sleep for that amount of time. There is no normal amount of time you should sleep. Everyone is not the same. For one I might sleep for five hours and feel refreshed enough to work another shift. Other hand my cousin might need more then eight hours of sleep to feel refreshed.
(Jahnke, 2012) Sleep has many levels to it. The first level is when the firefighter (for example) slowly start to drift off into sleep. Ninety minutes after he falls asleep he goes into his first rapid eye movement (REM) period, which lasts about ten minutes. Each of the later REM stages lasts longer and longer. Rapid eye movement is when a person is dreaming.
The four stages of sleep are REM (rapid eye movement sleep), NREM1 (non-rem), NREM2, and NREM3. During the REM stage “your heart rate rises, your breathing becomes rapid and irregular, and every half-minute or so your eyes dart around in momentary burst of activity behind closed lids” (Myers, 2014, p. 96).
Sleep disorders are an underestimated public health concern considering that fifty to seventy million Americans are affected. Technological advances in the field of sleep have facilitated various theories to explain the need for and the purpose of sleep. Scientist have uncovered many types of sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Sleep disorders affect men ,women, children, the elderly, and the obese in different ways. Factors such as the number of children and the effects of menopause have been studied to determine their effects on sleep. Various treatments have been utilized ranging from non-pharmacologic to pharmacologic methods. Scientist have pinpointed areas of the brain that are involved in sleep deprivation and hormones that ultimately affect sleep.
There are five stages of sleep. The first stage is when one prepares to drift off. During this stage, one experiences Alpha and Theta waves. This stage generally lasts five to ten minutes. The second stage lasts about twenty minutes. The brain begins to produce short periods of rhythmic brain waves known as Sleep Spindles. Body temperature begins to drop and the heart rates slows down. During stage three, slow waves
The pilots’ performance during his job is determined on how much the pilot has rested the night before his flight. To comprehend the problem of inadequate sleep, people must know what is sleep is. Sleep consists of four stages, the first one is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep where the mind is active and some minor muscles twitch. The next three stages of sleep are where the body and mind slows down. After 45 to 75 minutes of rest, people return to REM.
Sleep is a very important factor in the human function. Our body and brain is able to reset itself and rejuvenate while we sleep. When we do not get the required amount of sleep, we start to feel lethargic and foggy minded, because our mind and body wasn’t able to replenish itself. Sleep is imperative that an insignificant rest deficiency or lack of sleep can affect our ability to remember things; decisions and can affect our temperament. Chronic sleep deficiency can get the body to feel agitated and it could lead to serious health problems such as, heart problems, stress, acne, and obesity.
At night as we fall asleep, our body goes through several different stages. These stages consist of light and deep sleep. There are around 5 stages in a cycle and we go through four to five cycles every single night. Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, and last REM (rapid eye movement) You do not go straight from deep sleep to REM (rapid eye movement). The first couple cycles have a shorter time in REM and longer deep sleep. Later on in the night, you have a longer time in the REM stage and shorter time in deep sleep. However, you never go straight from deep sleep to the REM stage. You actually go from light sleep to deep, back to light, and finally to REM. A full cycle lasts anywhere between 100-120 minutes but the first cycle on lasts about 90 minutes. Each stage takes anywhere between 5-15 minutes.
What research has told us is that sleep is relegated by an internal time clock or what the experts call the circadian cycle. First circadian comes from two Latin words circa: about and dia: day. All the various bodily function cycle that occur during the day are related to our circadian cycle. Since the time of Aristotle and Hippocrates these cycles have been recognized. Our sleep/wake cycles is one of the best known bodily functions to show circadian rhythms, and even our vital signs are directly linked to this cycle. As technology advances we gain more precise measurements, allowing researchers to recognize more circadian cycles which in turn teach us how our bodies work and function. On an interesting note it has been found that bone length is linked to and show a circadian cycle.