Page 87 - BBC - The Scientific Guide to a Healthier You
P. 87
Sleeping rhythms can affect Some animals only send Sleep may help us
t
7 sports performance 8 half their brain to sleep 9 o learn new skills
Circadian rhythms (the natural cycles that Ducks are able to sleep with one eye shut After volunteers played the video game
govern when we’re awake and asleep) and one half of their brains asleep. Whales Tetris before going to sleep, they tended to
have an ‘outsized effect’ on sports pros – and dolphins keep half their brain awake, dream about the game that night. Those
athletes at their peak circadian rhythms letting them surface for air and be on the who dreamed about it showed the most
have an unseen advantage over opponents. lookout for danger while still sleeping. improvement when playing it the next day.
Female sleep is the key Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Dreams pervade all
t
10 o a happy marriage 11 sleep boosts creativity 12 stages of our sleep
A woman’s ability to fall and stay asleep During REM sleep the concentration of The idea that dreams only occur in REM
has a greater impact on marital satisfaction acetylcholine is twice that when awake, sleep isn’t true. We have dreams in all stages
than her daily interactions with her encouraging neural connections and, hence, of sleep and even when we’re awake, as
ALAMY, THINKSTOCK, GETTY X5, PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES, NATUREPL.COM, SUPERSTOCK
husband. The same effect was not creativity. The Beatles classic Yesterday is daydreams. But dreams are more common
found for men in relationships. said to have been penned after a good kip. in REM, and more vivid and bizarre.
Sleep deprivation is Our sleep requirements There is an excuse
13 an antidepressant 14 vary widely 15 or late nights
f
Sleep deprivation leads to a sort of In research carried out at the University of Early to bed, early to rise doesn’t suit
semi-euphoric state and has been used to Pennsylvania, eight hours did the trick for everyone. Some people are genetically
treat depression since the early 1970s. But most people. But an estimated five per cent predisposed to stay up later at night and get
low mood often returns as soon as the of us, including Maggie Thatcher, can get up later in the morning. This is the optimum
patients are allowed to get some sleep. away with five hours or fewer. pattern for roughly 40 per cent of us.
BBC SCIENCE FOCUS MAGAZINE COLLECTION 85
