3 Fascinating Articles About Sleep
ARTICLE #1
TITLE
What Is REM Sleep and Why Is It Important?
REM Sleep is magical. Here’s what we know.
DESCRIPTION
Sleep is a genuinely complex system that has much more to do than providing rest, renewal, and refreshment. As we go through the stages of sleep through deep sleep we enter a special stage of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) where not only we dream but also the active brain processes are occurring. “As you doze off, you enter the first stage of non-REM. This lasts less than 10 minutes and is considered a light sleep. Your breathing and heart rate decelerate and your muscles relax as you slip into the second stage of non-REM sleep, where your body temperature drops and your brain waves get slower. Then you enter the third stage, known as deep sleep, when your body repairs your bones and muscles, strengthens your immune system, releases hormones and restores your energy…. After that, REM sleep begins, and your heart rate, breathing and brain activity all increase. Brain regions involved in processing emotions and sensory input (from your dream world) light up. Meanwhile, your brain paralyzes the muscles in your arms and legs, preventing you from acting out your dreams, Dr. Dasgupta explained.” During REM sleep the active brain is usually dreaming, processing emotions and memory, and well as enhancing learning that has occurred through the day. The active processing during REM sleep has been shown to be important for both physical and mental health issues. The lack of both non-REM and REM can have serious consequences for the individual.
This is a fabulous article that really covers the stages of sleep and what the brain is processing during REM. It is an excellent resource article!
SOURCE
New York Times, February 25. 2023, by Carolyn Todd
LINK TO RESOURCE
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/25/well/mind/rem-sleep-benefits.html?smid=url-share
(Tiny URL) https://tinyurl.com/4rkthuef
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ARTICLE #2
TITLE
Why Sleep Paralysis Makes You See Ghosts
DESCRIPTION
What a most fascinating article!!! Many people have had the experience of sleep paralysis and report it as a terrifying experience. Not only do they believe that they have awakened and feel paralyzed but many also feel a presence in the room that might even feel like it is sitting on them. This was in the past also known as the incubus dream. There is a physiological explanation for this phenomenon, “Sleep paralysis—paralysis upon falling asleep or awakening—affects about 1 in 5 people. If being paralyzed when waking up isn’t chilling enough, some people worldwide encounter terrorizing bedroom intruders, ranging from magical witches and demons to blood-sucking vampires. These surreal sights can best be described as a nightmare coming alive before your eyes.” “Sleep paralysis occurs at the transition between wakefulness and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. During this stage of sleep, you have crisp life-like dreams. To prevent you from acting out these dreams and hurting yourself, your brain temporarily paralyzes your entire body. This transition is tightly controlled by chemicals that tilt you between sleep and wakefulness. But sometimes, you wake up while you’re still under the “spell” of REM paralysis, leaving you stuck. In a sense, wakefulness and the dream world collide.” The article provides a very detailed explanation though research into the phenomenon in terms of what is going on physiologically in the brain and body, as well as detailing peoples’ experiences in different cultures. Don’t be afraid of reading the article, and if you have this experience try to make sense of it rather than dreading it.
SOURCE
Time, March 3, 2023, by Baland Jalal
LINK TO RESOURCE
https://time.com/6259846/sleep-paralysis-ghosts/
(Tiny URL) https://tinyurl.com/yp8cdm3c
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ARTICLE #3
TITLE
Want Better-Quality Sleep? Avoid Doing These 14 Things.
DESCRIPTION
This is a very informative and actually a fun to read article!!! The author provides a series of 14 behaviors that can disturb both sleep onset insomnia and disrupt the circadian rhythm sleep cycle. “Whether you suffer from sleep onset insomnia (which makes it hard to relax in bed and fall asleep at night), sleep maintenance insomnia (which makes it difficult to stay asleep through the night), or both, it can lead to frustrating daytime impairments, as the Sleep Foundation notes. Sleep deficiency affects your mental health, physical health, quality of life and safety — and it is way too common. The American Sleep Association says that although adults need seven to nine hours of sleep at night, roughly a third of people report getting less than seven hours of sleep over a 24-hour period…. As it turns out, many of our daily habits can make insomnia worse. We spoke to experts for advice on what mindless habits should be avoided to get better sleep. Their answers were (literally) eye-opening.”
This is a wonderful resource for self-understanding of sleep problems and a source for giving advice.
SOURCE
HUFFPOST, January 20, 2023, by Sydni Ellis
LINK TO RESOURCE
(Tiny URL) https://tinyurl.com/27wtwtb6
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CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
•What are the stages of sleep? How does REM sleep differ from non-REM sleep? What is going on in the brain during REM Sleep?
•If friends of yours had a discussion about sleep and they told you about a strange dream in which they felt paralyzed and felt a strange presence in the room, how would you explain this phenomenon to them?
•After reading the article about the behaviors that disrupt sleep, which do you believe are most important that you might consider modifying for yourself if you have sleep issues?
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