Dement Ch. 10, 11, 12, 14

Question 1

Describe extreme cases of sleep deprivation including Randy Gardner and Peter Tripp. What were the results, implications and after effects?

Answer 1

Randy Garner sought to break the world record for days awake. Dement helped him, and he made it. His recovery sleep told them that sleep debt is not a one to one ratio.

Peter Tripp used stimulants to keep himself awake for a charity event, and suffered hallucinations, for a time, a sleep theory revolved around this, but after Gardner, this theory was disproven.

Question 2

What are microsleeps?

Answer 2

sleep periods lasting less than five minutes.

Question 3

Describe the role of understanding animal sleep in understanding human sleep.

Answer 3

Though they are not directly comparable, understanding animals along the evolutionary chain can give us insights into the steps taken to evolve to where we are.

Question 4

Describe the sleep of different animals discussed in the books.

Answer 4

Cats: They do not have consolidated sleep, and may have evolved this way to allow them to hunt in both the day and the night.
Dolphins:Evolved on land before moving to sea. Sleeps one hemisphere at a time, in two hour intervals, first left, than right until sleep requirements are met.
Birds:evolved independently of mammals, short bursts of REM like sleep, but no paralysis involved.
Reptiles:No REM, but do have a quiet period where they don’t react as well to outside stimuli.
Fish: rest on a leaf during downtime and have delayed reaction time during.
Mice:
Monkeys:
Platypus: one of most ancient mammals, forebrain is inactive during REM, much like human infants.

Question 5

Describe the energy conservation theory of sleep. What animal research supports this?

Answer 5

Sleep provides a period where the body can restore energy, when periods of food sources tend to be scarce. Each animal species has evolved to sleep when both food and reproductive opportunities are low, thus energy conservation would make sense. Some animals have a metabolism so high that they cannot go hours without food or die, so sleeping when food is scarce prolongs their life.

Question 6

Describe the survival mechanism/evolution theory of sleep.

Answer 6

That animals evolved to sleep during periods of increased vulnerability. For example, humans sleep during the night to avoid predators that would kill them.

Question 7

Describe specific evidence that supports the Growth and Development theory of sleep (253-258).

Answer 7

THe fact that infants mirror the platypus may show an evolutionary chain. After 4 months of gestation, the human fetus has 200 billion nerve cells in the brain, 2X as many as it needs. Excess is eliminated in year 1. Infants w cataracts risk loss of development if they aren’t fixed promptly. Fetal brain uses artificial stimulation to help its visual centers develop (given that the womb is dark.) Upon birth, their eyes work fine, and that wouldn’t happen without prior stimulation.Reffwarg covered a kitten’s eye and its nerve cells started to atrophy. This means REM is important after birth.

Question 8

What is the Roffwarg-Dement theory of sleep. Describe two problems with this theory. (256)

Answer 8

That REM sleep in the womb prepares the brain by giving it stimulation for the delicate nerve endings that would otherwise atrophy. This also allows the brain to be prepared to enter the world. It is difficult to test and if it is only for development, why would we have REM continue into adulthood?

Question 9

Describe REM Sleep deprivation and it’s effects.

Answer 9

Depriving someone of only REM sleep. increased inflammatory response, weight issues, depression and memory problems, as well as death (at least in rats.)

Question 10

Describe Roth & Roehrs yoked control sleep deprivation study (p 257). Methods, results, implications.

Answer 10

When they deprived an individual in the experimental group of REM, the other individual in the control group was also woken, though they were not in the same sleep stage. The results showed that the control group was more sleepy during the day than the experimental group because they had been deprived of NREM.

Question 11

Modafinil

Answer 11

A drug used in the treatment of Narcolepsy that does not cause increased sleep debt.

Question 12

Describe the results of the American Cancer Society’s study. (in regards to sleep.)

Answer 12

Stated habitual sleep time had the best correlation with mortality. Wasn’t linear. highest mortality rates were for under 4 hours or over nine. Lowest was around eight hours of sleep.

Question 13

How much more likely are poor sleepers (versus good sleepers) likely to have health problems?

Answer 13

males: 6.5 times more likely
females: 3.5 times more likely

Question 14

Describe the “cause and effect” relationship of sleep and length of one’s life

Answer 14

though eight hour sleepers live longer, the study did not prove a cause and effect relationship between sleep and longevity, though the results were very compelling. The answer may instead be discovered by the link between sleep and the immune system.

Question 15

Does sleep deprivation cause a person to get sick? Explain.

Answer 15

No, it cannot cause illness, but it can make one susceptible to getting sick.

Question 16

Generally, describe how the immune system works, including the role of interleukins.

Answer 16

Skin cells trap bacteria and shed off. blinking washes eyes with tear water, sweeping organisms into tear ducts to be destroyed. mucus in the nose traps airborne particles and if a cold is present, mucus washes out the virus. Acid in the stomach and immune cells in the intestine fight dangerous microbes.

Special cells in our body recognize whether other particles that are foreign and even kill off caner cells. Interleukins are messengers that mobilize the body to fight off an infection. immunoglobulins confront foreign bodies, and if dangerous, the body sends in T-cells, macrophages, and natural killer cells. They release enzymes that dissolve the cell membrane of the virus or cancer cell.

Question 17

What role do interleukins play in sleep when we are sick?

Answer 17

it increases sleep pressure, and may turn off the body clock, allowing us to be awake a few hours, then sleep a few hours.

Question 18

What does Dement suggest happens in the 24 hr flu? What evidence supports this idea?

Answer 18

That some cases of it are actually severe sleep deprivation taking effect. Sleep deprivation can cause stomach upset, increased sensitivity to pain, and decreased ability to ignore bothersome stimuli.

Question 19

Describe Everson’s studies of sleep deprivation in rats

Answer 19

autopsies were performed on rats that had died in other experiments and she found enlarged lymph nodes and bacteria in blood. She concluded the immune system must have broken down due to sleep deprivation to allow so much bacteria to exist. She used shorter and shorter period of sleep deprivation, finding live e. coli in abdominal lymph nodes in just 4 or five days of sleep deprivation.

Question 20

Describe the relationship between immune cells, particularly TNF, interleukin-1, and natural killer cells and sleep/sleep deprivation.

Answer 20

during sleep, immune system molecules like TNF and interleukin-1 rise in the blood, then drop in the morning before we wake. Following a night of sleep deprivation, natural killer cells are severely reduced.

Question 21

Describe the relationship between growth hormone and sleep

Answer 21

Growth hormone repairs tissue while we sleep. Growth hormone releasing hormone causes drowsiness.

Question 22

According to the NSF poll, what percent of people feel that daytime sleepiness interferes with their social life, relationships, and recreational activities? How much is their enjoyment of life activities diminished?

Answer 22

1/3 of adults, reduced by half.

Question 23

Describe partial sleep deprivation. How did Dinges study this? What were the results?

Answer 23

Partial sleep deprivation involves getting only a portion of the total alloted sleep time you need a night. Dinges used 4 and a half hours of sleep. the results showed those without adequate sleep were less happy, more stressed, more physically frail and more mentally and physically exhausted.

Question 24

What did Pilcher & Huffcutt’s meta-analysis show about sleep deprivation?

Answer 24

mood is more effected by sleep deprivation than cognitive skills or physical performance.

Question 25

Describe Van Cauter’s study (design & results) of sleep deprivation.

Answer 25

Van Cauter used volunteers to test mood and cognitive function. 8 hrs. nights 1-3, 4 hrs. nights 4-10 and 12 hrs. nights 11-18. Results after deprivation showed mood and cognitive decline whereas after recovery sleep, they showed more positive mood and more even-temperedness.

Question 26

What is the role of the reticular activating system (RAS) in sleep?

Answer 26

Dement equates the RAS to the soundtrack of our brain, it sets the stage for how we will react, both mechanically and because of the activation of lymbic system, emotionally. It involves the brain stem sending nor-epinephrine, dopamine, and acetylcholine from brain stem to every brain cell.

Question 27

Describe the relationship between sleep/arousal and various neurochemicals— acetylcholine, adenosine, dopamine, GABA, glutamate, glycine, histamine, hypocretin/orexin, melatonin, norepinephrine, serotonin, etc.

Answer 27

acetylcholine: associated w cortical arousal and desynchrony as seen in EEG. Highest during REM and waking. REM sleep initiation begins in ACh neurons in the pons. (REM headquarters)
adenosine: ATP/ADP, body’s energy source, more makes us tired.
dopamine: opposite of norepinephrine. reduces melatonin and prepares body for waking state.
GABA: makes nerve cells less reactive to stimuli (brain’s brake cell)
Glutamate: controls muscle tone and muscle weakness during REM, can activate orexin neurons, EEG synchronization and decrease of sleep. Excitatory neuron
Glycine: elevates serotonin levels, helps you bounce back to healthy sleep from deprivation.
Histamine:highest during wakefulness, arousal, display maximum activity during vigilance state and are lowest during NREM/REM.
Hypocretin/orexin: arousal chemical that acts on the alerting system but can be overcome with sleep pressure from 2-4 hours of sleep deprivation. works with others in the system to homeostatically control arousal systems. Too much leads to anxiety, panic disorder, etc.
melatonin: controlled by SCN, released by pons, tells the body it’s time to go to sleep.
norepinephrine: complimentary along with serotonin to ACh, lowest during REM. arousal due to novelty. Also plays a role in regulating release of melatonin.
serotonin:sustains concentration, lowest during REM, complimentary to ACh.

Question 28

What is the role of the limbic system in sleep?

Answer 28

when we get enough sleep, the RAS and lymbic system work together correctly to give us what the author calls, “better background music.” We have a better frame of mind to go about our day. Without adequate sleep, we get depressed or the “music” changes and we expect our body to have different responses to the stimulus that would have been positive with adequate sleep.

Question 29

Describe the hypothesis that sleep affects mood by altering neurochemicals.

Answer 29

Sleep as replenishment of neurotransmitters: these are released during the day from nerve cells and some are recycled back and some are lost. if brain activity is kept high (as in the case w sleep deprivation) the brain may lose it’s ability to replace neurotransmitters. this lowers our alerting. thoughts don’t flow as smoothly.

Question 30

Describe normal neural communication, and neural communication on drugs particularly stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamines, caffeine, & nicotine.

Answer 30

nerve cells communicate when neurotransmitters are passed from one cell to another through a gap called a synapse.
stimulants can deplete neurotransmitters. cocaine keeps them in the synapse longer, amphetamines flood the synapse with dopamine and norepinephrine, caffeine binds with the enzymes that adenosine binds with, blocking their receptor.

Question 31

What are some of the side effects of caffeine use?

Answer 31

Diretic issues
jittery/anxious thoughts
heart palpitations
tolerance built up 
lack of focus

Question 32

What is modafinil used for? Describe how it works and its effects.

Answer 32

modafinil is used in the treatment of narcolepsy to keep people awake during important tasks.

Question 33

What is a “somnolytic”?

Answer 33

a new class of drug, separate from stimulants, that modafinil is in, that keep you awake without the negative effects of sleep deprivation. They do not increase sleep debt (or only slightly increase it.)

Question 34

Describe some of the results of animal models of sleep/deprivation & memory.

Answer 34

Rodents deprived of REM had a harder time remembering a maze they learned previously.
another study showed increased REM after learning a new maze.

Question 35

Describe the relationship between learning & REM sleep.

Answer 35

REM may function to create the connections between neurons neccessary to facilitate movement of memories to long term storage.

Question 36

Describe the results of studies that have tested whether we can learn while we sleep.

Answer 36

no evidence that any learning takes place during sleep, which is reinforced by the fact that we now know the brain shuts off responses to outside stimuli during sleep.

Question 37

Describe the relationship between motivation & sleep

Answer 37

Lack of sleep reduces motivation. More sleep debt means less motivation.

Question 38

Describe the role of pleasure in motivation & creativity, and how sleep may affect that.

Answer 38

Creative individuals are highly intrinsically motivated, and sleep deprivation can impact the ability to be motivated, thus impacting our ability to use the motivation to be creative.

Question 39

Describe the reasons why Dement believes that a “brain blind to an answer while awake can see things clearly in a dream.”

Answer 39

dreams have a way of taking paradoxical concepts and melding them together. we continue to think during dreams. he goes one to show that many famous individuals came to great revelations during nights that they dreamed, from scientists to writers. I’ve experienced this myself.

Question 40

Define lucid dreaming. When do they occur?

Answer 40

dreams in which you can control your actions and are aware you are dreaming.

Question 41

How are people taught to lucid dream?

Answer 41

they wear a visor with red blinking lights. they aren’t stimulating enough to wake the person, but when the person sees the red light they can associate it with being in a dream, and the realization allows them to control their dream environment. works on 60% of population.

Question 42

What’s a “sleep snob”? (don’t be one!)

Answer 42

a braggart who tells everyone how well they function on no sleep.

Question 43

Describe “short sleepers.” How common are they?

Answer 43

People who have a low need for sleep but can function normally. they sleep less than six hours but that’s all they need. Very rare.