sleep psychology experts

sleep psychology experts

The Science of Sleep: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Sleep Psychology

1. Introduction to Sleep Psychology

Although most people fall asleep every day, it’s a little tough to come up with a good definition of sleep. Most everyone has at some time or another had a favorite saying about sleep – “I have to be up with the chickens in the morning,” “I just came back from relaxing,” and the after-Thanksgiving-dinner, “I need to take a nap.” Sleep is more than lying down, being still, and passing time with your eyes closed. There are many changes in brain and body activities that take place while falling asleep, during our sleep, and when waking up. Yet, even a 12-year-old may ask, “What is sleep? Dr. Smith said that I got sleepy in science class when I didn’t get enough sleep last night. What does sleep have to do with a chemical reaction?”

Perhaps one of the most quoted and most astute suggestions about sleep was made by Nathaniel Kleitman, known as the father of sleep research. He said that EEG activity during sleep is “a never-ceasing ebb and flow, ever-changing sequence of complex patterns, each pervading sleep in response to the dynamic play of external and internal influences”. True this was an artist’s rendering of the sleep process, but in many ways his words are like a photograph that captures the dynamic changes of sleep. Over the last 85 years researchers have added to Kleitman’s classic descriptions, and sleep research now involves investigations that operate at many levels with an ever-increasing database of genetic, molecular, cellular, and biobehavioral tools. By piecing together the information obtained from these areas, scientists are beginning to elucidate the intricate and intertwined story of how our brain mechanisms, often working with other systems of our body, generate and maintain our sleep.

2. The Importance of Sleep

Sleep is crucial to maintaining mental and physical health. It is essential for proper and productive brain function, providing both the neural rest required to meet the day’s mental demands and the time to consolidate learning from the previous day. Yet, enormous numbers of people do not make sleep a priority. They know they should get “enough” sleep, but many see it as a waste of time, while others think they can function on just a few hours. Unfortunately, this is not true.

The recommended amount of sleep for teenagers is between 8 to 10 hours per night. On average, most adolescents only get 7 hours of sleep, which means adolescents are usually getting 1-3 hours less sleep per night. Although a majority of teenagers need a full 8-10 hours of sleep, few get it.

Lack of sleep can lead to a variety of problems both day to day and in the future. Mood problems, such as anger and sadness, are often linked to sleep loss. Additionally, sleep is a crucial time for learning and processing the day’s information. Incomplete or fragmented sleep will reduce these processes. Lack of sleep on a single night will make it difficult to concentrate the following day and may contribute to problems controlling behavior and anger. Regularly missing the mark on a good night’s sleep, for both adults and adolescents, can result in serious problems making decisions and increased impulsiveness.

Lastly, sleep is a biological need which is known as a homeostatic drive, so the longer you are awake, the stronger the drive becomes to eventually sleep. Adults continue building the drive for sleep throughout the day, but many high school and early start free adolescents are finished increasing the drive at noon due to their later bedtimes. This means they have to deal with the negative effects of sleep loss with more time awake and less time for their bodies to be biologically prepared for sleep.

3. Neuroscience of Sleep

The idea that culture or economic pressure dictate excessively early bedtimes and very early morning awakenings deserves to be questioned. Both children and adults in such societies might be able to keep schedules that are more in accord with long-studied circadian rhythms and reserve melatonin, the sleep hormone, for the hours of darkness. However, it stands to question whether maximizing on productivity alone, without providing opportunities for rest and creative thought during the traditional afternoon siesta period when the body temperature is at its warmest leads to a high quality life. Loss of sleep leads to a myriad of problems, including fatigue-related accidents, an inability to concentrate, and irritable-borer syndrome (most of us know how irritable small children become when sleep has eluded them). Yet the amount of time and portion of life is sacrificed regularly as adults.

Neuroscience of Sleep

Sleep is yet another biological necessity that requires signals from the brain stem muscles and neuromodulators to be filtered by incoming brain signals in the thalamus before mental reprocessing takes place in the cortex. Cells have now been located in the posterior hypothalamus that prompts non-REM sleep, by initiating signals that cease the function of basal forebrain neurons that are linked to arousal. During REM sleep, the thalamus receives incoming information, possibly to be integrated into the previous day’s experiences, through the cortex to the thalamus but does not pass on the signal to the rest of the brain that maintains the sleeper in this realm. Instead, the brainstem conveys the signals to the cortex that dreams but will wake the sleeper if alarm bells ring, thus differentiating this state from other stages of sleep and wakefulness. All four stages of sleep last, one after another, are an ongoing cycle.

4. Common Sleep Disorders and Treatments

For people grappling with sleep disorders like melatonin deficiency or sleep apnea, addressing the root cause that’s keeping them up or depriving them of deep sleep is key. The newest sleep treatments and advancements continue to improve, but effective sleep therapies often don’t have to be ultra-sophisticated. Instead, some remedies are actually quite simple and focus on regulating the body’s natural sleep processes, such as adhering to regular sleep schedules and practicing good sleep hygiene. Insomnia and chronic sleep problems can take many forms, but addressing them generally involves some combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques, practicing good sleep hygiene, prescribing medication or supplements, and referral to a sleep medicine specialist for further diagnosis and management.

Greater understanding about sleep health and the benefits of practicing good sleep hygiene continues to grow, as do guidelines and remedies to alleviate sleep disorders. In some cases, effective practices are just making more people aware that adequate sleep is the cornerstone of health and promoting strategies so they can do just that.

5. Practical Tips for Improving Sleep Quality

Ready to get serious about getting proper shut-eye? Throughout this book, I discussed biological and psychosocial factors that influence sleep. Here, I will present a crash course in changing behavior: evidence-based, psychologist-approved recommendations for promoting sleep.

First, choose your behavior modifications. Decrease your sleep drive by doing less of the following: nap or sleep in in the morning; ingest caffeine, nicotine, or any stimulant medication, or drink alcohol; expose yourself to bright light; eat large or high-carbohydrate meals; exercise; feel anxious or angry; work; or watch screens in the evening or your bedroom. Increase your sleep drive by doing more of the following: interact with light in the early morning; create a ritual for preparing for bed, like a warm bath or some reading fiction; elevate the temperature in your bedroom before bed, then cool it down for sleeping; reserve the bedroom for sex and sleep only; make sure that your bedroom is dark, quiet, and cool; sleep on a regular schedule; and direct your mind away from sleep and onto something interesting or pleasant.