Unit 3/Part 4: Sleep Deprivation Flashcards
What factors influence the amount of sleep we need?
Age, gender, lifestyle, occupation
Define sleep deprivation.
Sleep deprivation is not getting the amount of sleep needed, which can involve partial or total loss of sleep.
What is sleep an example of and determined by?
Sleep is a circadian rhythm that’s determined by an internal body clock (the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the brain).
What other factors are influenced by this internal body clock?
Levels of arousal, hormone secretions, metabolism, heart rate and body temperature.
Wha is the difference between partial sleep deprivation and total sleep deprivation.
Partial sleep deprivation is having some sleep in a 24-hour period but not getting enough to meet your needs. Total sleep deprivation without sleep for an entire 24-hour period, for one night or several.
What was the effect of 11 days sleep deprivation on Randy Gardner in terms of physical changes? And psychological?
Randy underwent significant and uncharacteristic mood changes (grumpiness and short-temper), difficulty concentrating and short-term memory problems and delusions. He also experienced hallucinations, disorientation, finger tremors and slurred speech.
Why is it difficult to carry out sleep deprivation studies with humans?
Because we can’t link it with possible death because it’s considered inhumane and also illegal to deprive someone of sleep to the point of death.
What do sleep deprivation studies with rats reveal?
Showed that those who weren’t allowed to sleep died within 33 days while those who did remained in good health.
Name 2 effects of going without sleep for a night.
- cognitive difficulties e.g. Difficulty processing information
- lack of motivation
- clumsiness
What is sleep deprivation psychosis? When is it likely to occur?
Depersonalisation, with a loss of sense of identity and increased difficulty with coping with other people and the environment. Most likely to occur after 6 days (nights) of being sleep deprived.
Name 3 factors that may contribute to partial sleep deprivation.
- working night shifts
- waking in the night to check emails and text messages
- insomnia
Why has partial sleep deprivation been associated with accidents?
Because we’re better at controlled processes than automatic processes while sleep deprived. You perform better on controlled processes when sleep deprived due to it requiring more attention and focus, compared to automatic processes which don’t require a lot of attention or focus. This means less stimulation in the brain and you’re more likely to fall asleep because it’s considered boring.
What are some of the effects of sleep deprivation?
Psychological effects: Cognitive: - difficulties paying attention and concentrating - difficulty processing information - difficulty thinking and reasoning; poor decision making - memory problems Affective (feelings): - mood disturbances - lack of motivation - feelings of fatigue Behavioural: - slowed performance - clumsiness - risk taking behaviour Note: performance on short, complex, difficult tasks aren't usually affected by sleep deprivation. Physiological effects: - slower physical reflexes - hand tremors - droopy eyelids - headaches Note: there is little change, if any, in heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and body temperature.
What are some of the effects of partial sleep deprivation?
- interferes with enjoyment of activities
- poor motor coordination
- emotional issues
- loss of motivation
Which physiological effects can you observe in someone that is sleep deprived?
Droopy eyelids, hand tremors and slower physical reflexes.
List 3 diseases/conditions that chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to.
- depression
- anxiety disorders
- diabetes
- heartburn
- some forms of cancer
Lack of REM sleep may lead to what consequences? List at least 3
Memory problems, mood disturbances and prevention of protein synthesis.
Lack of NREM sleep may lead to what consequences? List at least 2.
Growth hormone isn’t released and interference of body replenishment. Keep in mind physiological and psychological processes interact and overlap and the reasons for REM and NREM sleep are still debated. Both stages of sleep are important for psychological and physiological wellbeing.
What is sleep debt?
The accumulated amount of sleep loss from insufficient sleep.
If you have a sleep debt is it necessary to make up for all the sleep missed?
You don’t need to make up for all the sleep missed, depending on the amount of sleep deprivation, a few more nights of slightly longer sleep than usual may be required.
What is REM rebound?
An effect that follows a loss of REM sleep, it entails experiencing a significantly longer amount of REM sleep after being sleep deprived.
What is the link between REM rebound and drug withdrawal?
REM rebound for people coming off drugs that prevent or limit REM sleep (such as alcohol, nicotine and antidepressants) can have serious implications. These include more vivid dreams, often nightmares, as they experience more time in REM sleep. These nightmares can be quite distressing.
How has research on REM rebound been conducted?
Dement conducted an experiment that discovered REM rebound. For 5 nights he woke participants each time they entered REM sleep, therefore depriving them of REM sleep. When participants were then allowed to have REM sleep on the 6th night, they engaged in much more REM sleep than usual, creating a catchup (rebound) effect.
What is microsleep and when is it more likely to occur?
A brief, involuntary period of sleep in the midst of a wakeful activity that can occur due to the amount of sleep deprivation increasing. It’s more likely to occur in the midst of an activity.
