sleep Flashcards
evolutionary explanation
main function of sleep is to adapt animals to their environmental niche
inactivity theory
inactive during times of vulnerability, leading to natural selection overtime
energy conservation theory
conserves energy at times we would be inefficient at searching for food.
Recovery/repair theory
sleep recovers the brain; without it (sleep deprivation) leads to physiological/psychological deprivations.
Explain how light activates the SCN
melanopsin receptors in the eye detect/respond to light and send signals to the SCN. light prevents the pineal gland from producing melatonin (which is ‘biological night’)
free running period
when our biological clock runs slightly slow as it is not being entrained to external cues/ zeitgebers.
The Glymphatic System
slow waves of neural activity occurring during sleep may have an important role in the process of removing metabolic waste from the brain.
REM sleep
‘rapid eye movement’
highly correlated with dreaming
co-occur with immobility of skeletal muscle
procedural memory is effected by REM sleep how?
is increased during REM sleep (learning skills/cognitive abilities)
higher % in babies
how does rich SWS sleep effect Declarative memory
increased by early or rich SWS sleep
(facts/dates etc)
When does REM sleep occur
later half of the sleep schedule
it is also short (between 90 - 120 mins)
SWS sleep increases… and REM sleep increases
declarative memory
procedural memory
what is procedural memory and declarative memory/?
- learning skills/ cognitive abilities
- facts/ dates etc
what happens during SWS?
the hippocampus replays events as sequences of cell firing during sharp-wave ripple (SWR) events (sped up 10-20x)
Sleep spindles co-occur to the sharp wave ripple and reflect engagement of that replayed experience with information in the neocortex
what did Thomas Edison propose?
that a technique that woke people during this wake-sleep transition led to creative insights.
Insights are not about the amount of sleep - it is about being in the NREM state -
- 55% = insight w NREM sleep - 20% w control groups
functions of the hippocampus
- experience os encoded in the hippocampus
- helps consolidate episodic and declarative memory
why might babies spend more time in REM sleep than adults
because REM relates to procedural memory (skills etc) and babies are constantly try to learn new skills - control their limbs etc.
at what age do babies begin to get more SWS sleep?
2-3 years = they start to focus on explicit memories (episodic/ semantic)
tell me about the experiment with the ‘concentration’ card game and the smells…
while doing the card game a cue was added (specific smell), then they slept with that smell.
SWS improved ability to recall locations of cards
- that smell and SWS facilitated recall of the 1st experience.
