Chapter 1. Sleep

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Looking in on a sleep study, you’ll see that the brain is actually very active during sleep, cycling through non-REM (NREM) stages and ending in REM sleep approximately five times during the night. Transitions between stages are clearly visible as shifts in EEG patterns. Graphs illustrating the human sleep cycle typically present an 8-hour time span, as shown here. But this doesn’t tell the whole story of sleep. The amount of time spent sleeping and the content of our sleep changes across the life span. And while a normal night’s sleep lasts approximately 7 hours for a healthy young adult, 30% of working adults get 6 hours or fewer of sleep per night (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).

This sleep study participant wears electrodes that will measure her brain waves and body movements during sleep. Looking at brain waves allows us to trace a person’s stage of sleep. Here we can see a clear shift from waking to sleeping patterns. A typical night’s sleep has 4 or 5 multistage sleep cycles, each lasing approximately 90 minutes. Each cycle includes at least 1 NREM and 1 REM stage. Pattern and duration of stages differ over the course of the night. Alpha and beta waves correspond to an awake person. Eye movement phase can happen in REM sleep. Theta waves are common for stages 1 and 2 NREM. Sleep spindle and K-complex are common for Stage 2 NREM. Delta waves characterize slow wave sleep and are common for stages 3 and 4 NREM. As we age, we need fewer ours od sleep. And the proportion of time spent in REM diminishes. REM is 50 percent of total sleep time at birth. REM decreases to 20 percent of total sleep by age 85.

QUESTION: Kim is participating in a sleep study this weekend. Her physician wants to determine if she might have a breathing-related sleep disorder. The technician hooks her up to a(n) _____ to monitor her brain waves and body movements during sleep.
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QUESTION: What type of data needs to be collected in a sleep study to determine the stage of sleep a participant is in?
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QUESTION: All of the following information could be used to help determine a person’s stage of sleep EXCEPT:
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QUESTION: A researcher studying young adults’ sleep habits is exploring the impact of disrupting all REM sleep sessions during one night’s sleep. Using an electroencephalogram (EEG) she will monitor participants’ brain waves and body movements to determine when they are entering REM sleep. She can expect to wake the participants up approximately _____ during the night.
Correct.
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QUESTION: Sanji is taking an introductory psychology class and is learning about sleep patterns across the lifespan. He was not surprised to learn that as we age we need _____ hours of sleep. However, he had not been aware that the proportion of time spent in _____ diminishes, because he thought that the amount of time dreaming remained consistent throughout life.
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QUESTION: According to research, a normal night’s sleep for healthy young adults lasts around _____ hours, yet around _____ of working adults get 6 hours or fewer of sleep per night.
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Incorrect.

QUESTION: What should a researcher look for on an electroencephalogram (EEG) to determine if someone is in deep sleep?
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QUESTION: Matt Utesch suffers from narcolepsy, a neurological disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and other sleep-related disturbances. According to one theory, narcolepsy symptoms like cataplexy and sleep paralysis indicate that the person is falling into REM sleep in the midst of wakefulness. If Matt were hooked up to an electroencephalogram (EEG) throughout the day, what type of brain waves might be indicative of these types of symptoms?
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