Comparing Psychology Sleep Cycles

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Comparing Sleep Cycles Throughout the Lifespan Throughout the lifespan sleep patterns change dramatically, this is because the amount of sleep needed across the lifespan varies with age. This essay will be looking at and comparing the sleeping patterns of a 5yr old to an adolescent's and an adolescent's to a 25yr old's, as well as discussing delayed sleep onset (which occurs during adolescence). During childhood (3 - 13 years) a 5 year-old will spend approximately 8-9 hours per night in NREM sleep and 2-3 hours per night in REM sleep. During adolescence (14 - 18 years) a teenager will usually spend approximately 6 hours per night in NREM sleep and 2 hours in REM sleep. The extra 2-3 hours children spend in NREM sleep (known to replenish and restore the body) is likely to take place due to the extended amount of physical activity a child involves in compared to an adolescent. The (however slightly) increased amount of time spent in REM sleep (known to replenish cognitive abilities) during childhood compared to that of adolescence is suggested to occur as a result of all the new information one is learning and, therefore the strenuous effort put on the brain. This theory is much better supported when looking at the sleeping patterns of an infant. As everything they are experiencing and learning is completely new to them they exhaust an incredible amount of mental effort during a day. It's for this reason that out of the 16 hours a day an infant spends sleeping approximately 50% percent of this sleep in spent in REM stage - more than any other age group throughout the lifespan. This evidence also supports the restorative sleep theory. The sleeping patterns of an adolescent and a 25-year-old adult are much the same - both spend approximately 6 hours in NREM sleep, and 2 in REM sleep during a night. The difference, however between these two age groups is

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