Stages 3: This is the deep sleep stage. It's harder to rouse you during this stage, and if someone woke you up, you would feel disoriented for a few minutes. Then comes REM sleep, where your heart rate and breathing quickens and as your brain is more active most of your intense dreams take place during this stage. The amount of time we spend each day sleeping declines throughout our lifetime. As humans grow from infancy to old age there are major changes in the amount and kind of sleep experienced.
Outline lifespan changes in sleep It has been found that over a lifespan there are decreases in total sleep time, deep sleep and REM sleep. Also, there are increases in sleep latency (time taken to nod off) and stages 1 & 2 sleep time. Van Cauter et al (2000) carried out a longitudinal sleep study on male participants. Of particular interest was their finding: DEEP SLEEP DETERIORATES IN 2 STAGES. Between 16 and 35 years and between 35 and 50 years During infancy babies sleep more than everyone else and have different sleep patterns.
The Five Stages Of Sleep Stage one: when you close your eyes, your body temperature drops and brainwaves become slower. You start to nod off, falling into a light sleep when stress hormones start to drop. Stage two: you've lost consciousness, your digestion slows down and functions like hearing are put on standby. Stage three: the first phase of deep sleep, which usually occurs within 15 minutes of falling asleep. Your muscles relax, your blood pressure and heart rate fall and your brain produces slow waves.
Outline and evaluate one or more biological rhythms (12 marks 4+8) An Ultradian rhythm is a biological rhythm that spans less than 24 hours such as the basic rest- activity cycles or the stages of sleep. Sleep consists of five stages and one cycle through these stages lasts for about 90 minutes. The first four stages are known as NREM sleep (non-rapid eye movements) and the fifth stage is called REM sleep (rapid eye movement) Stage one and two are characterised by a relaxed state. EEG shows alpha and theta brain waves during these stages and heart rate slows and temperature drops. Stage 3 and 4 also known as slow wave sleep (SWS) is characterised by delta brain waves, during these stages most of the body’s repair work is undertaken.
Infants have sleep stages similar to adults called quiet and active sleep; these are immature versions of SWS and REM sleep. By the age of 6 months a circadian rhythm has become established and by the age of one year infants are usually sleeping mainly at night, with one or two naps a day. The periods of deep sleep lengthen and there is a reduction in the amount of active sleep. It’s not yet known if this sleep is active with dreams. One suggestion to babies sleep patterns is that they sleep to make their parents life easier so they can get on with chores and work which enhances survival.
It also causes the reaction time to slow down, sometimes behavior becomes unpredictable, ability to make decisions decline. People do not always know when they are not getting enough sleep and when you are deprived of sleep, you are craving sleep. My results from the sleep deprivation test were 11 points and I could not trace the star accurately with my nondominant hand. I also realized that I fall asleep after a lot of activities such as; watching TV, in class during lectures, eating heavy meals, within five minutes of me getting into bed. It’s also hard for me to wake up in the morning without an alarm clock, I struggle to get out of bed, and I hit my snooze button a lot of times.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of death in infancy beyond the neonatal period. Current guidelines51 cite evidence that the risk of SIDS is reduced when infants sleep on their backs and in their parents’ room, but not in their parents’ bed. (For more information on this topic, see the Promoting Child Development theme.) Pacifiers have been linked with a lower risk of SIDS. It is recommended that infants be put to sleep with a pacifier, beginning at 1 month of age.
Case Study: I have had the opportunity to study the effectiveness of CH is on a child, for the purpose of the child’s privacy I will refer to him as Albert. Albert is 5 years old and has been using CH for 9 months as a means to sleep, due to an undiagnosed neurological problem that causes sleep apnoea, sedation has been necessary. Because of the sleep apnoea Albert also has a ventilator via tracheotomy so the importance of a respiratory side effect is very concerning. Because Albert has been using CH for such a long time his tolerance for the drug has got stronger and on occasions has been able to fight the intended purposes of CH for over an hour after administration, he has also been able to wake up after only 2 ½ hours sedation and would want to start playing. Due to this tolerance of CH the implication for using this drug long term and its habit forming side effect become a concern.
The best examples of circadian rhythms are body temperature and sleep/waking cycle. The ultradian rhythms have more than one cycle within the 24 hour duration. The prime example of this rhythm is the different stages of sleep i.e. slow-wave sleep to REM sleep during a night’s sleep. There are 5 different stages of sleep and each cycle last approximately 90mins.
They suffered through sleepless nights and 36 hour shifts. Several residents were even found “asleep in the operating room, sometimes while holding scalpels or other instruments” (Kellogg, 3). Some questioned it was safe for the resident to deal with patients when they were so sleep deprived. After much debate, new regulations were mandated that the residents could only work 80 hours per week. Now, instead of residents staying late there would be a night team which would take over duties around 6/7pm.