PSYC 4176 : Example Extra Credit Paper
Document Summary
Sleep terror episodes most commonly occur in children and are marked by partial awakening from slow-wave sleep with a sudden increase in autonomic arousal, confusion, a feeling of terror or panic, and subsequent amnesia for the episode. While this disorder has been of interest to the medical and psychology fields for decades, the etiology of this disorder is not fully understood. Fortunately, most children outgrow the disorder and there is usually no cause for great concern beyond protecting the child during an episode. However, recent research suggests strong links between sleep disordered breathing (sdb), disrupted sleep cycles, and night terrors. As sdb and abnormal sleep cycles are associated with detrimental effects on growth and functioning in children, this is an important area of future research. Parasomnias are a class of disorders marked by atypical behaviors, experiences, or physiological changes during the course of sleep or the transition from sleep to wakefulness.
