Lecture 8 - Sleep

Question 1

Night of 2 types of sleep

Answer 1

core sleep

• first 5 hours
• most of deep (stage3 and 4)
• half of rem sleep

optional sleep

• next 2+ hours
• mostly stage 2 and 1

Question 2

Bunker study

Answer 2

showed we have 25 hours cycle to start sleeping at same time each day and waking up as we feel like

Question 3

What happens to sleep as you get older?

Answer 3

reduction in total sleep time
early reduction in %rem sleep
later reduction in stage 3 and 4
most lost by age 4
reduction in parasomnias - abnormal movements, behaviours, emotions and perceptions

Question 4

Mean sleep duration

Answer 4

7.75 hours

Question 5

sleep latency

Answer 5

the length of time it takes from lying down for the night until sleep onset.

Question 6

features of dreams

Answer 6

not exclusive to rem sleep

but 2 times more likely to occur and 6 times longer and more vivid

Question 7

sigmund freud - dreams

Answer 7

wishes suppressed during the day assert themselves in dreams

Question 8

characteristics of dreams

Answer 8

intensely visual (colour or B&W?)
no smell, taste, pain
contain movement
often bizarre/illogical
emotional (funny, frightening)
no awareness of dreaming

Question 9

insomnia

Answer 9

30% of population (1/3 severe)
rarely primary reason for GP visit
15.3m prescriptions for hypnotics in UK (2011)
secondary to another problem i.e. itself a symptom

Question 10

features of insomnia

Answer 10

delayed onset sleep, disturbed sleep, early morning waking

Question 11

Causes of insomnia

Answer 11

psychological problems - depression, anxiety
other medical disorders (esp pain)
social environmental (alcohol, drugs)

Question 12

insomnia treatment approaches

Answer 12

hypnotic drugs
sleep education
e.g. today’s teaching (psychoeducation)
sleep hygiene
behavioural changes
dealing with tension/intrusive thoughts
relaxation techniques
cognitive approaches

Question 13

Narcolepsy

Answer 13

long term brain disorder where you suddenly fall asleep

impaired quality of life

Question 14

features of narcolepsy

Answer 14

sleep attacks - overwhelming sleepiness
cataplexy - paralysis of voluntary muscles - sleep-onset paralysis
vivid sleep-onset dreams (hallucinations?)

Question 15

Sleep paralysis

Answer 15

conscious, eyes open, unable to move, hallucinations

on going to sleep or on waking
REM sleep intrusion
20-60% of people experience at least once in their lives
sleep disruption e.g. shiftwork, jet lag

Question 16

Randy Gardner

Answer 16

264 hours (11 days) without sleep
Day 2 – difficulty focusing eyes
Day 5 – irritable, uncooperative, memory lapses, problems concentrating
Day 9 – fragmented thought patterns, blurred vision, major memory lapses

Question 17

Sleep deprivation

Answer 17

reserve capacity for 1 night sleep loss
most effect on cortical functions
rest of body relatively unaffected
only 1/3 lost sleep recovered
priority for stage 4 and REM