Sleep: The Cruciality of 9.5 Hours
Like food and water, sleep is essential to survival. In fact, sleep consumes so much of one’s time that the average human spends one-third of their life sleeping. Without sleep, the brain wouldn’t be able to learn or create new memories. Sleep is important to how the body and brain functions; the body and brain actually stays active during sleep. While everyone needs sleep, its true biological purpose is unknown. Scientists do know that sleep affects almost every part of the body - the brain, heart, lungs, metabolism, immune function, mood, and disease resistance. Scientific studies show that without proper sleep, individuals face an extremely high risk of disorders including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity.
The Brain Awakens
Sleep starts in the brain areas that produce SWS - Slow Wave Sleep. Slow Wave Sleep is also known as deep non rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. SWS is considered the most restorative sleep stage and plays an important role in forming and retaining memories. Recent studies by scientists have shown that two specific groups of cells, the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus in the hypothalamus, and the parafacial zone in the brazen stem, are primarily involved in SWS. As soon as these two groups of cells switch on, the loss of consciousness is triggered in an individual. After slow wave sleep, REM sleep begins. REM sleep - also known as Rapid Eye Movement sleep - is categorized by a plethora of specific characteristics. The brain activity during this stage is extremely similar to brain activity when an individual is awake. While the muscles in the arms and legs become unable to move, the eyes rapids flutter and breathing and heart rate become irregular and high. During this stage, the body becomes paralyzed while autonomous functions become erratic.
Down to the Hour
The amount of sleep an individual needs depends on a variety of different factors, but arguably the one that plays the largest role in determining the amount of hours is age. Infants through toddlers spend a majority of their day sleeping and napping. They sleep, and are recommended to sleep anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day. This is crucial for their development, as the majority of growth and change will occur during this stage of life. As an individual ages, the amount of sleep they require will gradually decrease. As one hits 6-12 years of age, the amount of sleep they require will vary from 9 to 12 hours a night. Teenagers only need 8-10, although a majority of teenagers ignore this standard and only sleep for half the recommended amount. Adults only need 7 hours of sleep a night, but their sleep cycles will eventually become shorter and more disruptive as they age, causing them to eventually take medication to help them sleep.
Uprise of Technology
As technology advances and continues to keep developing, the amount of hours individuals, especially teenagers, spend on their screen will rise, while the amount of hours they sleep will drastically fall. Although they need 9.5 hours of sleep everyday, a majority of these teens do not take sleep seriously, staying up until 3 am playing games, watching movies, and even talking to their friends. As a result of this, many teens are led to attention and behavior problems. Their mental health worsens, and many are faced with the risk of depression, anxiety and even thoughts of suicide. Sleep impairs function and affects reflexes causing slowness and clumsiness.
As more and more teens sleep next to electronics, they find their sleep schedules affected and disrupted as well. Sounds and blinking lights can cause unwanted awakenings and difficulty falling asleep due to constant distractions. The blue light many of these divide emit also disrupts the natural production of melatonin, a hormone that is crucial in facilitating sleep.
Tips and Tricks
As scientists are constantly discovering and researching more about sleep, they suggest a few tips and tricks to help individuals improve their sleep schedules.
Setting a Schedule to go to sleep and wake up the same time every day
Exercising 20-30 minutes a day a few hours before going to bed
Avoiding caffeine, nicotine, and alcoholic drinks
Avoiding bright lights and loud sounds
Read a book or listen to music
See a doctor if there is difficulty sleeping or there are feelings of unusually tiredness during the day
Written By: Keira Crasta
Sources:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-happens-in-the-brain-during-sleep1/
