PSYC 2800 Lecture Notes - Sleep Deprivation, Circadian Rhythm, Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
20 Apr 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Sleep as a biological adaptation: sleep is an energy-conserving strategy. Gather food at optimal times and sleep to conserve energy the rest of the time. Conserve energy so can hunt for food at appropriate time. Example: humans can"t see well at night so active during daytime. Strangely possums sleep 19 hours a day but not carnivores: sleep as a biological adaptation, basic rest-activity cycle (brac) Recurring cycle of temporal packets, about 90 minute periods in humans, during which an animal"s level of arousal waxes and wanes. Examples: school classes, work periods, meal times, nrem-rem cycles, all around 90 minutes. Cycles so fundamental that it cannot be turned off even at night, so the body is paralyzed during rem sleep to prevent interruptions throughout sleep. Actual circadian rhythms controlled by cortisol, which doesn"t have. Low= inactive: sleep as a restorative process, sleep not adaptive but restorative, possible hypotheses.
