Summary Flashcards
What is sleep?
Sleep is a natural, periodic state that involves reduced response to environmental stimuli and decreased mobility
What is sleep driven by?
Homeostatic and circadian factors
Homeostatic drive: If we don’t sleep, the need to sleep increases -> the longer we stay awake. Bigger drive to go to sleep. Adenosine accumulates as we stay awake. Sum- accumulating effects of wakefulness.
Circadian drive: to do with daytime and night time. We have a biological clock that dictates this timinng. Its setting itself on a 24 hour clock of dayime and nighttime
sleep across species
Sleep is a conserved behaviour across species
What patterns of activation does the brain display during wakefulness and sleep
When awake:
may be alert with beta waves (irregular, 13-30Hz), gamma waves (30+ Hz) or relaxed with alpha waves (8-12Hz)
When asleep:
- Stage 1 (N2) (3.5-7.7 Hz): Theta activity
- Stage 2 (N2): sleep spindles and K complexes
- Stage 3 (N3): delta activity (<3.5 Hz) also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS)
- REM: Rapid Eye Movement sleep, also known as paradoxical sleep
- Different pattern of activity -> sleep architecture
- Electrodes can track neuronal activity
- Brain activity slows down and tends to become more synchronized (in stage 3). Whereas when entering REM it is irregular and a greater level of activity compared to wakefulness. Paradoxical- brain is doing things in a asynchronis way.
A typical night
Different processes taking place and brain is doing stuff so we are functional the next day
Transitional from wakefulness (shallow level) to a deeper level. REM is higher up in this graph because it is more shallow
Tend to spend more time in SWS compared to later in sleep/ morning hours when we spend more time in REM sleep.
Sum of 11 weeks of sleep
Supra Chiasmatic Nucleus (biological clock)- receives input from our eyes which is about the presence/ intensity about the light in our environment. Sets pace, activity, genes, different areas that communicates. The clock is set at about 24 hours (but it does vary a little between individuals)
Gender differences and shift across adolescence and other factors happening at this time. Such as technology. Technology can affect sleep and interfere with SCN (sleep across the lifespan)
Glymphatic system- clears brains when asleep. They type of sleep which affects the glymphatic system most is SWS. This is the time where the cells are shrinking so the space in between the cells is getting more spacious.
Place cell recordings, animals replay neurons which were previously active when exploring new environments- contributing to learning and memory (sleep and cognition)
Psychomotor vigilance test (for attention)- sleep deprived= poorer performance. Other executive functions were looked at such as decision making, risk taking)- all these executive functions are seated in the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is affected by lack of sleep- takes longer to recover from sleep deprivation.
Strong link with anger and aggression. (sleep and emotion)
NA and PA- hypothesis argues about rem sleep and how that may contribute to emotional homeostasis- being emotionally ready the next day to interact with people and deal with emotionally charged experiences which have happened to us the previous day (Sleep and emotion)
Content- what people dream about, what is a typical dream, what are current dreams. Solution to problem when asleep
Insomnia is the most prevalent sleep condition. To get the diagnosis people need to have trouble getting to sleep/ maintaining sleep/ waking up early- needs to happen 3 times a week for 3 months. People may be trying to act on it but it may become more chronic. 3 P’s and other stuff are converging on the idea that perhaps they are too vigilant on the idea/ stressed which is making difficulties with sleep more chronic and difficult.
Centers for Disease Control(CDC)
The CDC (2020) in the US have declared that sleep disorders constitute a public health crisis
Due to the prevalence of sleep disorders, the sufferers and the general public are more at risk of related accidents and medical mistakes
Sleep disorders also contribute to the development and worsening of common chronic illnesses like obesity, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease as well as mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, alcohol-related disorders, etc
Mental Health (MH) of Children and Young People in England(wave 2 follow up to the 2017 survey – NHS)
Probable MH Conditions in England:
6/8-16y: 11.6% in 2017, 17.4% in 2021, 20.3% in 2023
17-19y: 10.1% in 2017, 17.4% in 2021, 23.3% in 2023
20-25y: 21.7% in 2023
Deterioration in MH vs Improvement:
6-16y: 39.2% deterioration since 2017, 21.8% improvement since 2017
17-23y: 52.5% deterioration since 2017, 15.2% improvement since 2017
Sleep problems on 3+ nights in the past week: (insomnia)
6-10y: 28.7%, 59.5% in those with probable MH condition
11-16y: 38.4%, 74.2% in those with probable MH condition
17-23y: 57.1%, 86.7% in those with probable MH condition
Sleep’s Role and Benefits
Implicated in several aspects of our lives
Physical health (cardiovascular, obesity, diabetes), mental health (depression, anxiety) and wellbeing
Began to unravel the secrets of sleep and its several functions
- Need for more research
- Need for better research
- Need to address the gaps in our knowledge
Equity in sleep
Lower SES - lower duration and quality of sleep
Minority and racial-ethnic groups are more likely to experience extremes in sleep duration
Neighbourhoods and housing
- noise, crime, crowding, excess light and social isolation are associated with poor health outcomes
- walkability and opportunities for physical activity, amenities such as parks and playgrounds are associated with better sleep
Awareness leads to appreciation
Perhaps awareness can lead to change:
Can begin to question the strive to fit in the dominant culture of being ‘productive’ and constantly being logged in
- Personal responsibility
- Societal responsibility
- Political responsibility
Obstacles to Overcome: what are Common barriers to sleep health
- Lack of time
- Social norms and beliefs
- Physical environment (sensory input, light, temperature etc)
- Health conditions and chronic pain
- Substance Use (mainly caffeine & alcohol)
- Distractions and on-demand culture (‘binge-watching’
Recommended elements of sleep health intervention (Grandner, 2019)
- Education (regarding benefits and importance of sleep)
- Facilitation (removing perceived barriers and troubleshooting)
- Assessment (sleep and relevant contextual factors)
- Control (increase sense of control and self-efficacy
- Socialisation (address family, work and social networks)
- Readiness ( developing an intention to act or maintain)
Intervention for Sleep Health
Perhaps we can become more efficient sleepers – we can start by implementing a steady sleep and wake schedule and then monitor how we feel
- Allow time to adjust to the new schedule
- Are we alert and fully awake during the day? Do we sleep well at night?
- Can we add a power nap during the day?
Appreciate the continuity of our behaviors: our lifestyle and attitudes during our waking life have an impact on our ability to relax and indulge in sleep at night
Respect the time for sleep and fully embrace the moment
In Striving for Sleep
- Although the aim is to sleep well, striving too hard to sleep may have the opposite outcome
- Strike a balance between being aware of our behaviours and stressing over it.
- Develop a habit so sleep becomes effortless, less the focus and more of a natural progression of our day
- Do not mind the little things – bumps will happen along the way but our bodies can handle it. Nobody can have perfect sleep all the time.
For people not aware, becoming more familiar and aware might be helpful. But on the other hand being too aware can cause problems.
