Sleep: The secret to a sound sleep lies inside the brain, researchers find - latimes.com
I am frequently amazed by my husband's ability to sleep through all kinds of noises that cause me to wake in a flash -- car alarms, smoke detectors that are running low on batteries, and especially kids who have lost track of their favorite blankie in the middle of the night. Thanks to a new study being published in Tuesday's edition of the journal Current Biology, I now know that his brain probably produces more sleep spindles than mine. You see, while we're sleeping, the thalamus -- the part of the brain that receives sensory input like sounds -- tries to relay information to the cortex, where the sounds are actually perceived. Sleep experts can see these transmissions on an electroencephalography test, or EEG. But, scientists believe, sometimes the brain throws up roadblocks to prevent the cortex from being disturbed during crucial periods of sleep when memories are consolidated. The report is online here. -- Karen Kaplan
The 28 Hour Day
Sleep may help us to forget by rebalancing brain synapses | Science
We spend one third of our lives sleeping, but we still do not know exactly why we sleep. Recent research shows that that the brain does its housekeeping while we sleep, and clears away its waste. According to another hypothesis, sleep plays the vital role of restoring the right balance of brain synapses to enhance learning, and two studies published in today’s issue of Science now provide the most direct evidence yet for this idea. We do know that sleep is important for consolidating newly formed memories. Giulio Tononi argues that the synaptic strengthening that accompanies learning increases the brain’s energy consumption, and may overload its capacity for processing information. Tononi and his long-term collaborator Chiara Cirelli have already shown that even short periods of sleep or wakefulness alter synaptic activity at multiple levels, and make synapses shrink or grow, respectively. They also created genetically engineered mice lacking the Homer1a gene. References
Good sleep, good learning, good life
Foreword It is everyone's dream to wake up fresh, happy, and ready for action on a daily basis. Sadly, in the modern world, only a small minority lives that dream. a bit of knowledge, and a readiness to make some lifestyle sacrifice. I hope that this article compiles all the basic ingredients of knowledge that are helpful in accomplishing refreshing sleep. This article was originally written a decade ago. This article is a compilation of the most important and the most interesting things about the biology of sleep. Since writing the original Good sleep, good learning, good life, tremendous progress has been made in the science of sleep. As the article grew to be insanely long, you may wish to begin with the summary at the bottom of the article. Notes Incremental writing: Due to the size of the material, this article was written using a technique called incremental writing. Importance of sleep Why understanding sleep is important? Too few people realize how important sleep is! For more see:
Sleeping Tricks - Effective Techniques For Falling Asleep - StumbleUpon
Kriya for Conquering Sleep
1. Sit on the heels with the palms on the thighs. Keep the spine straight and lean back 30 degrees from the vertical position. Hold the posture with long deep breathing for 1 minute. Then relax. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Comments: If sleep is a constant problem for you, practice this kriya regularly for 90 days. © The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan This Kriya can be found in the Sadhana Manual available from KRI. Note: Always seek the advice of a trained health professional before beginning any exercise program.
How to Sleep More Effectively, Starting Tonight at Personal Development with Ririan Project
“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.” - Homer Tired after getting a full nine hours and still feeling exhausted? The good news is that, starting tonight, you can improve the quality of your sleep. 1. It is possible to sleep too long or at the wrong time. 2. As I mentioned, there are three optimal lengths of sleep - but that doesn’t mean you can just choose one. 3. Most people can get away with some wildness in their routines as long as they soak up some bright light at the right time. 4. Your body was designed to sync with the cycles of nature – including daylight and darkness. 5. To get the most out of your shutdown time, keep regular hours. Overlooking the single most important thing you can do for your health is easy with all the clamor surrounding various health products in the marketplace. If you liked this article, please bookmark it on del.icio.us or vote for it on Digg.
How to Naturally Reset Your Sleep Cycle In One Night
Wise Bread Picks Not eating for 12-16 hours can help people quickly reset their sleep-wake cycle, according to a study from the Harvard Medical School. This discovery can drastically improve a person's ability to cope with jet lag or adjust to working late shifts. Scientists have long known that our circadian rhythm is regulated by our exposure to light. The lead researcher Clifford Saper explains: The neat thing about this second clock is that it can override the main clock...and you should just flip into that new time zone in one day. It usually takes people a week to fully adjust to a new time zone or sleeping schedule. How Do You Use This Trick? Simply stop eating during the 12-16 hour period before you want to be awake. For example, if you want to start waking up at 2:00 am, you should start fasting between 10:00 am or 2:00 pm the previous day, and don't break your fast until you wake up at 2:00 am. The Science: Why Does This Work? Here's a quick summary of Saper's research findings:
Polyphasic Sleep: Facts and Myths
Contents The law of accelerating returns We live in the times of accelerating acceleration. The Moore's Law makes the world smaller, faster, more connected and more efficient. At the same time, the myth-making power of the human mind is now grotesquely amplified by the all-mighty Internet. Around the year 2000, a new meme cropped up in several blogs on the net: The Uberman's Sleep Schedule. The Uberman's Sleep Schedule The idea behind the Uberman's Sleep Schedule is to gain waking hours by sleeping the total of just 3 hours in 6 portions distributed equally throughout the day. The Uberman's Sleep Schedule was proposed in this blog at Everything2. Polyphasic sleep More and more frequently, Uberman's Sleep Schedule was being referred to as polyphasic sleep (the term popularized by research and book by an Italian chronobiologist Dr. Polyphasic sleep is known to sleep researchers as a variant of a sleep pattern that is set in opposition to monophasic sleep. Compression of sleep stages
Alternate Sleep Cycles | High Existence - StumbleUpon
Most people only think that there is one way to sleep: Go to sleep at night for 6-8 hours, wake up in the morning, stay awake for 16-18 hours and then repeat. Actually, that is called a monophasic sleep cycle, which is only 1 of 5 major sleep cycles that have been used successfully throughout history. The other 4 are considered polyphasic sleep cycles due to the multiple number of naps they require each day. How is this possible? Well the most important of every sleep cycle is the Stage 4 REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which has been shown to provide the benefits of sleep to the brain above all other stages of sleep. This way, you still get the benefits of 8 hours of sleep without wasting all of the time it takes to get to REM cycles, resulting in a much more efficient sleep cycle. Uberman Cycle: 20 to 30 minute naps every 4 hours, resulting in 6 naps each day. Everyman Cycle: One longer “core” nap that is supplemented with several 20-30 minute naps. Dymaxion Cycle: Biphasic/Siesta Cycle:
