It is very common to readjust posture many times in the middle of the night. This is not to say that people do not completely cease all movement during sleep. While asleep, people are relatively inactive and as a result, the body uses about 10% less energy. Sleep is characterized by a decrease in physical activity, a decoupling from external inputs, and changes in brain wave activity.Ĭompared to waking behavior, a person’s physical activity is greatly decreased when they sleep. While everyone knows what sleep is, it is useful to try to more precisely define sleep as a biological function. Several physiological measures are taken in a polysomnogram, including heart rate, blood pressure and oxygenation level, respiratory depth and pattern, muscle activity, eye movement, and one of major interest to neuroscientists: brain wave activity. But why is sleep so important? It is possible to study sleep using a combination of techniques the output of sleep studies are visualized on a polysomnogram (pahle-SOM-nuh-gram somn- is the prefix referring to sleep). The current medical recommendation is 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Almost 70% of college students fail to get the recommended amount of nightly sleep, and half of all college students report experiencing daytime sleepiness as a result. Consider that the CDC estimates that more than a third of American adults fail to get enough sleep each night. Sexual health is affected by sleep deprivation as well, as men with the worst sleeping habits have significantly lower sperm counts, decreased circulating testosterone, and even testicular shrinkage.ĭespite all that we know about the benefits of sleep, sleep is often the first time commitment to get cut, often getting squeezed as people stay awake later while waking up sooner. The cancer research branch of the World Health Organization has determined that disruption of regular sleep is “probably carcinogenic to humans”, putting it in the same risk category as the infectious agents malaria and human papillomavirus (HPV), as well as the biochemical weapon mustard gas. Nearly 20% of all car crashes, both fatal and nonfatal, are attributed to drowsy driving. People who sleep less than approximately 7 hours a night are at a greater risk for heart disease, stroke, asthma, arthritis, depression, and diabetes. Sleep is such an important part of our lives that a lack of it strongly correlates with negative outcomes on nearly every measure of health.
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