Sleep: More to it than meets the eye

Sleep is one of those things we dont really think about. We get up, eat, go to work, eat again, come home and then sleep. But we never really think about sleep. In each of the stages mentioned, we dont constantly think about sleep. In fact, we dont think about it all. We might begin to daydream, but we dont think about the act of sleeping by itself. Why? Probably because there isnt much to think about, or is there? To find out, we need to define sleep.

Sleep has been defined many times. It is a non waking state of consciousness characterized by general unresponsiveness to the

environment and physical immobility (Lefton 95). In other words, sleep is a state of temporary paralysis in which our brain is still processing information, but we are not aware of it. In essence, sleep is a partial detachment from the world, where most external stimuli are blocked from the senses.

We often take sleep for granted and overlook its importance. Sleep is an innate biological rhythm that can never be ignored (Coon 199). It is a process which replenishes our physical and mental energy. Day in and day out we have to carry out a boring monotonous routine, be it work or school, and for it we need energy. We dont have an abundance of energy, but we can recharge our batteries using sleep. This is often referred to as the

Restorative Theory. The Adaptive Non-Responding Theory according to which sleep developed, in the particular forms and patterns it took in species, as a behavior that increased the likelihood of that species survival(Webb). For human beings this adaptive response was not responding. An example would be that of cavemen. Those who wandered out at night probably got killed by other predators, while those who slept were safe and remained alive.

The most recent theory on why we need sleep is based on the idea of circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are daily cycles in behavioral or physiological activity(Crider 183). Circadian rhythms are present in many physiological functions such as body temperature, flow of hormone levels etc. These rhythms continue even in enclosed environments without clocks or any cues about it being light or dark outside. Our body maintains a biological clock with a 25-hour cycle of waking and sleeping activity. Sleep is a circadian rhythm and is an essential part of our daily cycle. Why did it become a part of our daily cycle? Probably because of our ancestors and the dangers involved in hunting or foraging outside at night.

Since sleep is a natural process and essential for our survival, it follows that a lack of sleep would result in harm to our mind and body. There have been several psychological tests about how long a person can go on without sleep. But those results vary from person to person. A teenager was found to be able to go for eleven days, while a disc jockey, Peter Tripp was found to

last for two hundred hours (Luce). Most people who have not slept for 2 or 3 days can still do interesting or complex mental tasks (Binks). However, sleep loss is dangerous. Severe sleep loss can cause sleep-deprivation psychosis i.e. loss of contact with reality. To understand how all of this happens and why it does, we need to understand the logistics of sleep.

Sleep is a cognitive process. Our brain generates electrical signals all the time during sleep. Psychologists have divided sleep into two major categories and five separate stages. The two categories are NREM and REM sleep. NREM stands for non rapid eye movement while REM stands for rapid eye movement. They have been so named because during that is exactly what happens during those stages. The five stages are:

1. Stage 1(NREM) This stage could be called the dozing stage. We begin to lose consciousness and get into a relaxed stage. At this point of time, our brain produces alpha waves( slow moving waves). As we enter stage 1, the alpha waves are replaced by theta waves and breathing and heart rate slow down as the muscles relax and body temperature falls.

2. Stage 2(NREM)

We spend about 50% our sleep in stage 2. It is a deeper level of sleep and is identified by the appearance of rapid waves from time to time. These waves look like the thread rapped around a sewing spindle and are hence called sleep spindles. You get cold at this stage and need a blanket. We also have special brain waves of higher amplitude called Kcomplexes present in the brain at this time.

3. Stage 3(NREM) This is a transitional stage between stage 2 and stage 4 with new large and slow brain waves appearing in the brain. These waves are called delta waves and are usually accompanied by a greater loss of consciousness.

4. Stage 4(NREM) This is the deepest stage of sleep. In this stage, you are very difficult to awaken and are completely unaware of noises or any activity around you. Delta waves predominate in this stage. This is the stage in which you see all the common sleeping disorders such as bedwetting, night terror, sleep talking and sleepwalking.

5. Stage 5(REM) This stage is characterized by rapid eye movements and dreaming. Out of all the stages of sleep, this is the only stage in which we dream. REM

sleep is often called paradoxical sleep because people at this stage look as if though theyre about to wake up, but in reality it is difficult to wake them up.

In a typical sleep pattern, we go through all the stages from 1 to 5 and then dont return to stage 1 again. Instead we continue to stages 2, 3 and 4 and back to REM. After the second cycle, sleep in stage 4 disappears and as the cycles go on, the amount of time spent in stage 2 decreases while the amount of time spend in REM increases.

Even though the stages of sleep are the same for all human beings, the amount of sleep needed by each person varies. On an average, infants need 16 hours of sleep, teenagers need 9 hours and early adults and old adults need about 7 or 8 hours. Why does the amount of sleep needed vary with age? Its primarily because people of different ages live different lifestyles. The young boy next door who seems full of energy all the time and is bouncing all over the place, gets all of his energy from his sleep. To have that much of energy, he needs to sleep more. As we grow up, we tend to do away with all that hyperactivity and live a more stable lifestyle. Once our daily routine has been established, we stick to it. For maintaining our daily routine, we need an optimum amount of energy, which we can get by sleeping for about 7 to 8 hours. The other reason is that the NREM-REM cycle changes from infancy to adulthood, as sleep changes from a polyphasic

pattern(sleeping in many periods) to a monophasic one(sleeping in one period)(Benjamin 180). It is believed that REM sleep in infancy is related to maturation of the nervous system that is not complete at birth. As the child grows older, the maturation decreases and hence the REM sleep also decreases. Hence the total sleep time differs from person to person. Other reasons also exist such as sleep latency, which means that it takes longer for you to fall asleep(Benjamin 181). An increase in sleep latency generally occurs with old age.

Sleep and Sleep patterns are something that we dont really have control over. If you think about it, sleep is an innate biological activity. It is one of those involuntary things that we have to do, or one of those things, which just happens. For example, a person who is wide-awake cannot be made to sleep and similarly a sleepy person cannot be kept awake for a long time. Our sleep patterns and circadian rhythms are beyond our control. The only possible way we can control our sleep patterns is with external help. If there is constant stimulus from the outside such as constant fear or a constant nagging element, then we can fight our sleep and prolong our duration of staying awake, but in the end sleep always gets its way. That explains why even after being disturbed in our sleep, we always go back, maybe if not immediately, then after usually a small amount of time. As far as brain waves are considered, any form of disturbance results in the

production of K-complexes and waves of similar wavelengths, but even then, we cannot control the sleep cycle.

Sleep is as important of food. And just like food, too much or too little of sleep can be detrimental to our health. Sleep deprivation is the process in which a persons sleep is reduced or eliminated. As a result of tests conducted on individuals as the ones mentioned initially in this journal, researchers have concluded that after 2 or 3 days, a sleep deprived person engages in microsleeps which are brief 2 to 5 second bursts of sleep that intrude into wakefulness (Benjamin 179). After 10 days, the microsleeps become so frequent that it is hard to tell whether the person is awake or asleep, although they function as if they are awake (Hauri). If allowed to continue, excessive sleeplessness can lead to paranoia, occasional

hallucinations and short-term personality changes (Dement). There is also an Increased production of proteins and reduced protein breakdown. The immune system gets weakened too. This is primarily because of REM sleep deprivation. What is interesting to note is that if a person stays without sleep for 11 days, then just a night sleep is enough to get the person back on track. This is called the Rebound Effect (Benjamin 179). It happens because when the person sleeps, the body increases the amount of time spent in REM sleep.

Just as lack of sleep is bad, excessive sleep is bad too. Excessive sleep means that you spent a lot of time replenishing your body for tasks that you should be doing right then instead of sleeping. From experience, I can say that instead of making you full of energy, it tends to make you sleepy and groggy. It increases a persons laziness and might result in hypersomnia. Hypersomnia, which is basically excessive sleepiness, has been categorized as a sleeping disorder and can be the result of anything from drug abuse to sleep drunkenness.

Sleep is the best indicator of a persons mental health. It is one of the most telling indicators of mental disturbances. Since sleep is essential for a normal life, anything other than the given amount of sleep indicates some form of mental disturbance. Not only the duration of sleep, but also the events that go on while a person sleeps give us an idea of what the person is going through. Sleep apnea, night terrors and sleepwalking are a few disorders that occur when a person is sleeping. Another way sleep can be used to determine a persons mental health is by measuring the persons brains signals while they are asleep using an electroencephalograph. An abnormal pattern indicates that something is wrong with the person. Also if a person gets a good nights sleep theyre able to think better, respond quickly and are more productive. They also affect our mood. An uncomfortable mattress and a poor night's sleep can leave you depressed, stressed, and tired at the start of the dayand, it goes downhill from there.

So far weve just talked about sleep without delving too much into the realm of dreams, which is what we do in REM sleep. The first question that comes to mind is what exactly is a dream? A dream is state of consciousness that occurs during sleep and is usually accompanied by vivid usual imagery, although the imagery may also be tactile or auditory (Lefton 99). Why do we dream? There are 2 major theories about why we dream and they are as follows:

1. The Psychoanalytic Theory

Sigmund Freud created the Psychoanalytic Theory in which he proposed that dreams are derived from our unconscious drives or wishes. During the day, these unconscious wishes are repressed or suppressed, but at night the repression is relaxed and so the unconscious dreams are more likely to emerge into consciousness. Freud postulated a censor that transforms and disguises our

unconscious wishes so that the persons sleep is undisturbed. He believed that dreams come out in the form of two products: Manifest content(the part of the dreams that we remember) and the Latent Content(the part of the dreams which remains unconscious and is not remembered).

2. The Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis

This hypothesis was proposed by J. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley. They argued that the dream state of the REM cycle was generated spontaneously by the pons in the brain. This activates the cortex in a random manner. This random activation is responsible for the shifting and fragmentary images of dreams. The cortex then synthesizes the random messages by using stored information present in the memory.

Our best guess on where dreams originate from would be from the activation synthesis hypothesis. Dreams probably do originate from the cortex which in turn is activated by the pons. Dreaming is as important an activity as sleeping. Dreams have often been used in literature and art. Dreaming is seen as leaving this world and entering another, one over which they have little control. The following quote by Mary E. Coleridge gives us a brief idea of what man sees dreams to be: Breathe slumbrous music round me, sweet and slow, To honied phrases set! Into the land of dreams I long to go.

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