Sadly we’re not getting enough sleep! I started this study in trying to understand why I’m having sleep problems. Approximately two out of every ten Amricans suffer from sleeping disorders. Sleep is not just a “time filler,” sleep serves as an active, essential function and if we don't get enough sleep, it has a long term effect on our lives. Like the phone that can not work without a battery we also can’t function without sleeping.
Sleep disorders are a comprehensive name for a variety of problems in the amount of sleep, quality, sleep rhythms and frequency, physiological and behavioral changes that occur during and in the transition between sleep and wakefulness. Sleep disorders result from an anonymous problem in sleep-wake production or scheduling mechanisms and are often caused due to complications and work by model conditioning.
In order to understand the mechanism of sleep we need to understand the methodology. The sleeping phases or in other words our sleeping cycle combines from 4 stages. Sleep is roughly divided into 2 stages: Non-REM phase and REM phase. REM stands for "rapid eye movement". The Non-REM phase is divided into 3 sub-phases:
Step N1 - Initial stage of drowsiness or sleepiness, closed eyes and deep breathing. During this stage, the person loses muscle tone and most of the awareness of the external environment.
Step N2 - Superficial sleep, with the possibility of short daily thought segments. Also known as the "baseline of sleep". This stage constitutes 45% -55% of the total sleep time in adults.
Step N3 - This is the deepest sleep. This is where we want to go. It is difficult to awaken the person from this stage: "old as dead". This is the missing stage for people with sleep problems. People who get up tired and exhausted as if not sleeping, miss this stage, which is essential for functioning on the following day.
REM Phase - The criterion for REM sleep is rapid eye flicker, and low and rapid brain waves in EEG. It is so named due to the EEG which shows that the brain is very active and resembles an awake state, while the body is actually motionless. A dream sleep lasts 15-20 minutes at the end of each sleep cycle, and constitutes 20% -25% of the total sleep time in adults. It is easier to wake up from it compared to phase N3.
Each sleep cycle lasts 60-90 minutes and includes all 4 stages of sleep including waking up at the end. The relativity of each phase varies throughout the night. A dream year in the last cycle is longer compared to previous cycles.
SATT identified environmental factors that contributed to sleep problems.
Sleep deprivation leads to lower alertness and concentration. It's more difficult to focus and pay attention, so you're more easily confused. This hampers your ability to perform tasks that require logical reasoning or complex thought. Sleepiness also impairs judgment.
COVID-19-mandated social restrictions constituted a global intervention by affecting social times worldwide. Research in a scientific report shows the differences made for a study for a Global Chrono Corona Survey (GCCS) that queried sleep–wake times before and during the social restrictions. The data indicate a massive sleep deficit under pre-pandemic social time pressure around the world. The difference in the number shows the growing sleep problems in those countries. Variables, such as geographical factors (latitude and position in the time zone), dietary habits, exposure to daylight and wellbeing parameters were obtained in the research.
Due to changes in the routine of life during the lockdown - exposure to daylight decreased dramatically: 70% reported a decrease, 49% lost more than one hour of light per day. Daylight is a key factor in regulating sleep and mood and daily functioning.
The study found that greater losses in daylight exposure were statistically linked to declines in sleep quality, quality of life and physical activity, increased screen time, and later night-time scheduling. The findings mean that daylight exposure is a factor of resilience, which may limit the adverse effects of the plague and prevent sleep disorders.
There are complex mechanisms in our brain that increase the duration and the depth of our sleep and permit the recovery of some of what was lost. Sleep loss or chronic sleep disruption also has many negative consequences, including adverse effects on metabolism and immune function. During the study I wanted to learn more and understand the mechanisms that tend to consolidate sleep in our brains.
Researchers found that each night, over the course of the first hour or so of sleep, the brain progresses through a series of stages during which brain waves slow down. This period of slow wave sleep is accompanied by relaxation of the muscles and the eyes. Heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature all fall. If awakened during this time, most people recall only fragmented thoughts, not active dreams.
The main areas that works during sleep are:
The hypothalamus - the “sleep center”, control centers affecting sleep and arousal, the cells receive information about light exposure directly from the eyes and control your behavioral rhythm. Responsible for the first phase (Non REM) shutting down the brain's signals and causing the transition to sleep. Some people sleep erratically throughout the day because they are not able to match their circadian rhythms with the light-dark cycle. The hypothalamus also plays an important role in the feeling of emotions, people often find themselves thinking and dreaming before completely falling asleep.
The brainstem - communicates with the hypothalamus to control the transitions between wake and sleep. Produce a brain chemical (GABA), which acts to reduce the activity of arousal centers in the hypothalamus and the brainstem. Plays a special role in the second phase of our sleep: it sends signals to relax muscles essential for body posture and limb movements, so that we don’t act out our dreams. Responsible for the autonomic functions of the body, at this point the body pulse rises and sometimes we even sweat. The brainstem is also responsible for urine output; it sends signals to us in our sleep to wake up and go to the restroom.
The Thalamus - sending information from the senses to the cerebral cortex, interprets and processes information from short- to long-term memory. During the first stages of sleep, the thalamus becomes quiet, letting you tune out the external world. But during the last stage (REM), the thalamus is active, sending the images, sounds, and other sensations that fill our dreams. Receives information about a particular stimulus and processes it, then sends waves of attention to wake up from that outside noise or interruption.
The pineal gland - receives signals and increases production of the hormone melatonin, which helps put you to sleep once the lights go down. The electrical and metabolic activity of the nerve cells in the nucleus decreases, the clock resets and the process that leads to awakening is avoided. In this way melatonin encourages sleep, its peak time is around 9pm, at this time the level of melatonin in the blood rises, and we feel less alert and more tired. Melatonin levels remain high for about 12 hours, until a significant drop in blood levels at nine in the morning. Stimulation of light directly reduces its emission.
The basal forebrain - promotes sleep and wakefulness. Release of adenosine, a chemical of cellular energy consumption from cells in the basal forebrain and other regions that supports sleep drive. Caffeine counteracts sleepiness by blocking the actions of adenosine in the basal forebrain. involved in cognitive processes and incharge of smooth transitions, particularly transitions to wakefulness and arousal.
The amygdala- involved in processing emotions, becomes increasingly active during the last stage (REM) when there is a rapid eye movement. The amygdala is involved in regulating the action of the hormonal system and the autonomic nervous system. In this part the rate of neural responses increases as a result of paying attention to visual stimuli such as dreams. Responsible for the emotional aspect of memory, remembering emotions we experienced during dreams. Dream repression stems from a defense mechanism that recognizes feelings of sadness and fear as danger.
I wanted to create the brain and the mapping of the parts that are active in our sleep more accessible. The explanation might sound long and hard to read so it was also really important to me to make this data visualization more accessible and user friendly.
My interactive brain:
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