Chapter 10: Sleep Disturbances Part 2 Flashcards
What does partial sleep deprivation involve and when may it occur? Give an example:
Having less sleep (either quantity or quality) than what is normally required.
-May occur periodically or persistently over the short-term or long-term.
Eg. Someone may have too little sleep for one or more days, weeks, months and so on.
What does total sleep deprivation involve and when may it occur? Give an example:
Not having any sleep at all over a short-term or long-term period.
- The person stays awake for one or more days or weeks.
- Usually happens under extreme conditions (Eg. trying to break a record).
What is sleep debt, what happens when it is repaid and when it builds up?
Sleep that is owed and needs to be made up because daily sleep requirements have not been met.
- When the acquired sleep debt is repaid, the person will quickly recover from sleep loss effects.
- With successive nights of inadequate sleep, the sleep debt can accumulate and sleep deprivation effects can multiply.
- We do not need to fully compensate for lost hours of sleep to recover from sleep deprivation effects.
Describe the ABCs of sleep deprivation and give an example for each:
-Affective - relating to feelings and mood
Eg. Irritability
-Behavioural - any externally expressed action by a person that can be directly observed
Eg. Difficulty completing simple tasks
-Cognitive - a task requiring mental processes
Eg. Loss of concentration
What are microsleeps?
- What are they caused by?
- What does an individual experiencing a microsleep look like?
- How long do they last?
- What awareness do individuals have during it?
- What does it result in?
A brief unintended, involuntary period of sleep, lasting up to a few seconds.
- Caused by lack of sleep or excessive sleepiness
- Individual typically has a fixed gaze, a blank expression on their face and doesn’t blink
- May last between 1-10 secs
- Person may have no recollection of what happened during their microsleep
- Results in a lapse in concentration
What is sleep inertia and how long does it last?
The performance impairment that occurs immediately after awakening.
-Usually lasts for a few minutes but can last for much longer.
When may sleep inertia occur?
Can follow a poor night’s sleep, especially if abruptly awoken during slow-wave deep sleep or when sleep duration is insufficient.
How does sleep inertia make individuals feel?
Individual typically feels groggy, partly awake and disoriented as they transition toward full alertness.
Describe how sleep inertia effects performance:
- Can interfere with the ability to perform a wide range of behavioural and cognitive tasks, including the simplest of everyday actions.
- Reaction time tends to be slow and motor and cognitive functions are affected.
- Affects performing tasks that require full alertness and can compromise the safety of the individual involved and others need to be avoided (Eg. road traffic and on-the-job accidents can occur during sleep inertia)
What does bright light therapy involve and what type of light is used?
Timed exposure of the eyes to intense but safe amounts of light.
- Light can be used to re-set the biological clock and gradually shift someone’s circadian sleep-wake cycle to a desired schedule, typically the day-night cycle of their physical environment.
- Light may be sunlight or artificial
- Artificial light can be used as an alternative since it can affect the biological clock in the same way sunlight does
Describe the process of bright light therapy:
- Alight boxis the most commonly used device. The box houses fluorescent tubes that produce light of variable intensity.
- The individual has to keep within a certain distance of the box, usually about 30 cm from it.
- Generally, the light that is emitted is brighter than indoor light but not as bright as direct sunlight.
- There is no need to look directly into the light. Instead, the person may simply face in the direction of the box.
- The light will be reflected from surfaces and received by the eyes for transmission to the SCN, which will then influence melatonin secretion from the pineal gland.
- Requires a number of sessions across a number of days until the body adjusts to the new times.
What are the 3 important variables of bright light therapy and why is timing important?
- Generally, the three important variables are to use the light at the right time of day at the right intensity for the right amount of time.
- The timing of light exposure is critical. There is a peak or optimal time for light exposure and the closer to the time an individual is exposed to light, the more effective the treatment is likely to be. The peak time can be determined by core body temperature.
What is a delayed sleep phase disorder and how can bright light therapy be used?
Where individuals feel sleepier much later at night than desired.
-Light exposure in the early morning (6-8am) to shift phase forward (earlier)
What is an advanced sleep phase disorder and how can bright light therapy be used?
Where individuals feel sleepier much earlier at night than desired.
-Light exposure in the evening to delay sleep onset/shift phase backward (later)
Describe how light therapy can be used in relation to jet lag:
- When travelling east, sleep phase needs to be advanced so light therapy in the morning
- When travelling west, sleep phase needs to be delayed so light therapy in the evening
