Sleep Cycles and Wake Times

[cambece]

Does the time in which a person is woken during their sleep cycle affect how tired they feel when they are awake?

 

 

 

Cambece cambece

to the extreme!

[InfiniteNow]

Sure does.

 

 

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/fatigue/factsaboutsleepfatigue.html

Sleep inertia is the feeling of grogginess after awakening and temporarily reduces your ability to perform even simple tasks.

 

Sleep inertia can last from 1 minute to 4 hours, but typically lasts 15-30 minutes.

 

The severity of sleep inertia is dependent on how long you have been asleep and the stage of sleep at awakening. Effects can be severe if a person is very sleep deprived or has been woken from a deep sleep stage.

 

 

You might learn a bunch more by googling things like circadian rhythms. Another interesting line or research pertains to fibromyalgia.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibromyalgia#Sleep_disturbance

 

 

Cheers. :shrug:

[cwes99_03]

Doesn't the "how you are awoken from sleep" also affect this sleep inertia?

 

I know that I can wake up on my own but lay there and slip backwards if you will into a groggy form of sleep. I also know that I can be awoken from a seemingly deep sleep by a sudden noise like an alarm and be wide awake in an instant.

 

I remember as a kid waking up every morning and jumping right out of bed the moment I was awake and never feeling groggy. But I was getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night back then.

[moo]

I remember as a kid waking up every morning and jumping right out of bed the moment I was awake and never feeling groggy.

Same here, but I've also seen some kids (even teens) that don't seem to know what planet they're on (especially when they aren't allowed to wake up on their own).

 

Unfortunately I now find myself in that same state occasionally, probably because a good night's sleep is a rare commodity. It's a real puzzler when the bedside phone rings and I can't figure out what it is for a few seconds, but it isn't quite as bad (yet) as a friend I called one night...

 

I didn't get an answer after several rings (although I knew they were home), so I redialed the number thinking I had probably made a mistake. They answered pretty quick the second time, but I learned they had been asleep and were trying to shut off the alarm clock for the duration of my first call. :(

 

moo

[InfiniteNow]

Along those same lines, let's say you wake up to gunfire... You're likely to be much less groggy, even alert. There are all manner of contextual factors involved in grogginess, including, for example, what you did the day before (how much rest did your body need to complete it's nightly repairs?)...

[moo]

Along those same lines, let's say you wake up to gunfire... You're likely to be much less groggy, even alert.

Lol, well actually I was awakened one night by my wife's scream... :(

 

We had an electric fan in the bedroom, and during the night it shorted out and caught fire. It woke my wife (well, sort of anyway), but for some reason she jumped out of bed, flipped on the lights (a 4 light bulb fixture directly over our bed) and screamed... very loudly.

 

Even my feeble brain realized it must be my wife screaming, but the lights were already on and I was totally blinded - so I did the best I could with no optical input.

 

I came hurdling out of bed (assuming the worst of course) thinking we had an intruder and he must have turned on the light when she screamed. Therefore my target was at the light switch.

 

Fortunately she was yelling "NO! NO! NO! THE FAN'S ON FIRE!" by the time I got across the room, and just saved herself from a severe mauling. So after waiting a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, I unplugged the flaming fan and carried it outdoors.

 

But you're right, I was immediately awake. :)

 

moo

[HydrogenBond]

I believe sleep cycles are in multiples of 90 mins. I normally awake about 6AM during the weekdays, usually a few minutes before my alarm goes offf. This morning I woke, because of dreaming that my alarm went off at about 5:45AM. I was surprised I felt so tired, until I looked at a clock and realized my sleep cycle wasn't finished for another 15 min. A few cups of Joe and a shower put me over the top.

[cambece]

It's funny that I always seem to wake up a few minutes before my alarm goes sounds because I know it's going to go off.... Hmm I should turn off my computer before I get any more sleep debt.

 

 

 

 

Cambece

Cambece

[moo]

I believe sleep cycles are in multiples of 90 mins.

Apparently they are indeed...

 

http://www.shuteye.com/glossary.asp

Excerpt: "Sleep cycle — A sequence of sleep stages that usually begins with a period of about 80 minutes of NREM sleep followed by about 10 minutes of REM sleep. This cycle of approximately 90 minutes is repeated four to six times each night. If the sequence is interrupted (for example, by external noise or a sleep disorder), the quality of sleep can suffer."

 

Interesting, because often my problem is waking after 3 hrs (2 cycles) and being unable to return to sleep. Seems odd that it's almost exactly 3 hrs every time, but I guess a 90 minute sleep cycle explains the regularity.

 

moo

[cambece]

Does anyone know why some people seem to need more sleep than others? Is there any scientific proof that different people require different amounts of sleep or could it be psychological?

 

 

 

 

 

Cambece

Cambece

[moo]

http://www.npi.ucla.edu/sleepresearch/encarta/MediaMax4.htm

Excerpt: "Sleep needs further decrease as adolescence progresses, stabilizing at 7 or 8 hours in adulthood. The elderly tend to lose their capacity for extended sleep. They may sleep very little at night but doze during the day, returning to the multiphasic sleep patterns of childhood.

 

http://www.iconocast.com/News_Files/HNewsC2_XX_XX/News9.htm

Excerpt: "Does everyone have the same sleep requirements?

No. It varies, not only in the amount of sleep, but the timing of sleep. There are true night owls and true morning larks. Some people are genetically inclined to be morning people and others seem to be set up to be night people. There are short sleepers and long sleepers. Some require more sleep than average and some seem to require less than average to feel refreshed and energized."

 

http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih3/sleep/guide/info-sleep.htm

Excerpt: "Several issues are important to consider. First, individual sleep needs vary. For instance, eight hours of sleep per night appears to be optimal for most adults, although some may need more or less. Teenagers, on average, require about nine or more hours of sleep per night to be as alert as possible when awake."

 

Obvious factors such as general overall health, nutrition, activity while awake, and genetics may affect the amount of sleep required. However, every source I've found simply says individual requirements vary, which leaves the impression that perhaps even identical twins in the same environment may have different sleep requirements. :shrug:

 

moo

[HydrogenBond]

Sleep has many functions. The most obvious is that it helps the body to regenerate itself. What sleep also does, is put the ego to sleep so the unconscious mind can reorganize the memory. The ego tends to focus itself, while the unconscious mind is looking more for completeness. Dreams are the 3-D language of the unconscious. These are irrational because they are not 2-D (cause and affect) but 3-D. It takes some efford to forward integrate the 2-D memory into 3-D and requires the ego stop focusing conscious at 2-D.

 

The best example of this affect is the ingenuity created by experience and practice. The ego follows logical procedures and uses repetition. This range of 2-D memory is forwarded integrated into 3-D each night while we sleep. The long term result can be ingenuity, where new hunches for how to do something, one has never trained for, come to light.

 

For example, a carpenter is constantly confronted by unique situations that require ingenuous solutions. In this case, the 3-D memory, reverses to output a new 2-D memory, i.e., new plane of logic formulated in the 3-D memory stemming from collective experience.

 

When one is young learning potential is much higher. This requires more time sleeping to forward integrate the data to 3-D. The natural learning potential lowers with age, requiring less sleep because there is less data for forward integration. Also, the 3-d memory is stronger as one gets older. The longer wake time, allows one to get back more along the lines of the wisdom of experience. There is an old say the treachery of old age will always overcome the vitality of youth. It is a funny way of saying the old timers has more 3-D capacity, giving it an advantage over the higher l2-d learning potential of youth.

[InfiniteNow]

Sleep has many functions.

Indeed. This is very true. :thumbs_up

 

The most obvious is that it helps the body to regenerate itself.

It's not that simple, but I agree this is one of the functions of sleep. There's just a lot to that statement "it helps the body to regenerate itself," not encapsulated by your comment.

 

What sleep also does, is put the ego to sleep so the unconscious mind can reorganize the memory. The ego tends to focus itself, while the unconscious mind is looking more for completeness.

Can you support this? :)

 

Dreams are the 3-D language of the unconscious. These are irrational because they are not 2-D (cause and affect) but 3-D.

Or this... :)

 

It takes some efford to forward integrate the 2-D memory into 3-D and requires the ego stop focusing conscious at 2-D.

Perhaps by this point just the smilie will suffice... ;)

[maikeru]

2D and 3D memory? Got some support for that?

[HydrogenBond]

This is new science that has been dealt with for centuries. The best proof is connected to creativity. Creativity creates new ideas from foundation themes. The left hemisphere can copy Mozart. But Mozart's knowledge of music allowed him to extrapolate something new based on his understanding o fmusic . On can not reason new music. This is something that comes from the right or spatial (3-D) side of the brain.

 

The best way to look at 3-D memory is that it is an array of data points in 3-D that can interact with each other. Computer memory tries to keep the memory point separate and distinct for reliable playback. The 3-d memory allows maybe potential interaction that can create extrapolations in 3-D. The output becomes an extension of the data. This can occur because neural memory is alive. The potential difference can result in the neural memory attempting to lower potential through a variety of affects that can alter the memory grouping.

[Michaelangelica]

Each cell in our body has a clock

Catalyst: Body Clock - ABC TV Science

[Moontanman]

I worked rotating shifts for 25 years, my circadian rhythm is totally messed up. I seldom sleep longer than 30 minutes at a stretch and never more than 4 hours a day. usually I sleep less than an hour a day. I never sleep deeply and I am usually aware of what goes on around me when I am sleeping. I also lucid dream almost all the time. Once a every 5 to 10 days I will sleep a couple of hours with out waking but that is about it for real sleep.