Outline and Evaluate One Explanations of Sleep Disorders

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Outline and Evaluate one explanations of sleep disorders Narcolepsy is caused by disruption of sleep wake cycle, where sufferers fall asleep randomly, often whilst engaging in some kind of activity. It is a long-term neurological condition that disrupts normal sleeping patterns which affects 1 in 2000 individuals. The two main symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness and episodes of cataplexy which is loss of muscular control which often happens when laughing. Other symptoms include sleep paralysis and hallucinations, both experienced when falling asleep and waking up, and disturbed night-time sleep. Narcolepsy usually begins in adolescence and the type of severity of symptoms vary from person to person and may either worsen or improve with time. There are three explanations of narcolepsy. Understanding of narcolepsy stems primarily from research involving narcoleptic dogs. It was found that these dogs have a fault receptor in the hypocretin which have similar problems in humans as hypocretin levels were very low. One explanation involves a malfunction in the system of REM sleep, which explained some of the classic symptoms such as cataplexy as it accompanies REM sleep. Montplaiser (2007) tested 16 participants with narcolepsy and cataplexy, finding that they had high percentage of REM sleep, though this may be a cause or effect of the conditions. Most explanations of narcolepsy have been biological, though there have been some successful attempts to provide psychodynamic explanations such as Lehrman and Weiss (1943) suggested that sudden attacks of sleepiness disguise sexual fantasies. However these research is falsifiable as it is impossible to directly study these explanations. Also it is clear that there is a genetic component to narcolepsy. In dogs, it is clear that one gene can pass on the trait, whereas in humans it does not, as in humans if one twin

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