Sleep and Performance

On this blog we post information about sleep, however, we have not posted much content regarding the data behind the information we are providing. So, in this post I will show you some of the most interesting statistics that we have found up to this point in time. I recently came across several sources of information that provided some interesting statistics found during various studies on human sleep patterns, the environments that influence those sleep patterns, and what effects those patterns have on your performance. 

Pre-Sleeping Habits

• 9 out of every 10 Americans reported using a technological device in the hour before going to sleep
• TV is the most popular device, at 60%,  used before sleep [2.]
• Those under the age of 30 more likely to use cell phones [2.]
• Using these interactive devices makes it significantly more likely to have difficulty falling asleep [2.]
• Using devices also increases the likelihood that that person will have less restful sleep [2.]

• Interactive technological devices are most strongly associated with sleep complaints 

Sleep Deprivation Effects 

• This blog is a big fan of Dr. Charels Czeisler, who is lauded within the community of neuroscientists who study sleep, who was influential in a study regarding the effects sleep deprivation has on cognitive abilities. [1.]
• Sleep deficiency is a “deficit in the quantity or quality of sleep obtained vs. the amount needed for optimal health, performance [1.]
• Sleep deficiency degrades immune, cardiovascular and metabolic function [1.]

Benefits of Sleep

[3.]

Achieving Better Sleep

[3.]

These images were taken from a lecture given  by Dr. Charels Czeisler. If you would like to watch the video, the link is provided in the references section. I would recommend trying to adhere to some of these suggested sleep habits. They are useful, and trust us here at #SleepMatters, it works. If you want to be more alert during the day, just try a few, they work.

Below are the resources used to obtain the information provided in this blog post 

References

1. Pack AI, Dinges DF, Gehrman PR, Staley B, Pack FM, Maislin G. Risk factors for excessive sleepiness in older adults. Ann Neurol. 2006;59:893–904. [PubMed]

2. Dinges & Powell, 1985; Doran, Van Dongen, & Dinges, 2001; Wyatt et al., 1999

3. A Sleep Epidemic: Charles Czeisler at TEDxCambridge 2011   http://youtu.be/p4UxLpoNCxU

What Type of Sleeper Are You?

Chronotype

If you have never heard this term before, you should. The term Chronotype refers to a way that Chronobiologist, those who study the rhythms of sleep in living things, categorize sleepers. There are two groups of Chronotype, larks and owls.

Larks -->  If you consider yourself a morning person, then you are a lark. If you are the type of person who maintains the habit of falling asleep early and waking up early then you are a lark. If you typically fall asleep around 11:30p.m., you are a lark.

Owls  --> If you look at yourself as a night person, then you are an owl. If you know that you are more alert in the evening than you are in the morning, then you are an owl. If you find yourself late at night wondering why you are not sleepy, you are an owl.


There is nothing that you can do to alter your Chronotype, because this is determined genetically. You are born with your sleeping habits. You may come from a family of people who are up until the wee hours of the morning every night, or you may be part of a family who has all of the lights in the house turned out at 10:00 pm. Regardless of what Chronotype you fall into, there is not point in trying to combat your type, as it cannot be changed. So, embrace your Chronotype, whether you are a lark or an owl, embrace the lifestyle you have inherited.

Guess who fits into the respective chronotypes

Light and your Sleep

Today is November 26th, during this time of year in our area the days get both progressively shorter and colder. Both the cold weather and the limited amount of daylight can have significant impacts on restful sleep. So, during this time of year you must be mindful of the following mistakes you may already be making as you attempt to go to sleep.

• Keeping the house too hot --> The optimal temperature range for sleeping is 68-72 degrees F
  
• Keeping the house too cold-->Your body temperature drops during sleep, there is no need to make the room extra cold
  
• Lack of light throughout the day--> do not allow less daylight to alter your sleep patterns
  
• Dietary changes--> as the weather gets colder do not allow yourself to cheat more on your dietary habits
• Lack of exercise--> it may be cold outside, but do not let that prevent you from exercising, as this helps you to fall asleep at night 
• Over-sleeping on weekends --> you alter your sleep patterns when you oversleep, so do not sleep until noon
• Dry air--> Dry air can dry out your nostrils, thus leading to snoring, and THUS less sleep
• Cold and flu season--> People tend to get sick during the winter, and that stuffed up nose will prevent you from getting restful sleep

In regards to light   

"Artificial light striking the retina between dusk and dawn exerts other physiological effects through sightless vision. It inhibits sleep-promoting neurons and activates arousal-promoting orexin neurons in the hypothalamus, and suppresses the nightly release of the soporific hormone melatonin. " Dr. Charels Czeisler.

 
Orexin is a neurotransmitter, a chemical released between the neurons in your brain which evokes a specific responses in your behavior. This specific chemical regulates your arousal, wakefulness and appetite. The reason that this chemical is so important to mention, is because if you watch tv, use your tablet or your phone immediately before going to sleep,  then you will cause your brain to release this chemical. Once this chemical is released, you are effectively preventing yourself from going to sleep. Even though you may be able to eventually fall asleep after this chemical is released within your brain, your sleep will be less restorative due to its presence. 

I like to think of Orexin as Will Smith in this image and Geoffery as you trying to sleep

I believe, based upon my own experiences, it is safe to say that we all have had nights in which it takes a long time to finally fall asleep. In addition, I think that most people, if they think back to what they were doing immediately before the attempted to sleep, were probably in the vicinity of an electronic device that would trigger their brain to inhibit the release of chemicals that are conducive to sleep.

For those of you on twitter, if you have any comments or questions that pertain to this specific article, or any of our past articles, or if you just want to share your sleep issues with us, go on twitter and #sleepmatters. We would love to hear from you, just do not do it before you go to sleep. Happy Thanksgiving!

HIstory and Sleep

Napoleon Bonaparte's thoughts on sleep 

When asked how many hours of sleep someone should get a night, posted above is how Napoleon Bonaparte, former conqueror and polarizing historical figure, replied . While this comment may seem misogynistic, and in retrospect ill conceived, he shares this sentiment with some of the most prominent figures in human history. People such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Winston Churchill, and New Jersey's own Thomas Edison all looked upon long nights of sleep as a form of weakness, as they preferred multiple short naps to meet their sleep needs.  

]

Thomas Edison during a midday nap

There comes a point in ever day that we all feel like taking a nap, and it happens to be proven that a 15-20 minute nap can do wonders for your productivity. However, you are more than likely unable to experience the bliss that is the afternoon nap. 

That feeling of fighting sleep

 How we could feel after a nap

 While we all know how great an afternoon nap would feel, unfortunately, it is something that we cannot normally do. So, get you 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night so that you can wake up feeling great, while not requiring an afternoon snooze. While many very important humans have looked negatively upon long periods of sleep, we now know how misinformed their opinions were. If you get your sleep you can get up feeling like you could invent the light bulb or conquer Europe, metaphorically of course. 

8 hours of sleep? Why, yes, I do feel great

The Rhythms of Sleep

We all know what it feels like when you are forced to wake up when you are not ready

You may not have been aware of this, but your sleep patterns are driven by a biological rhythm that stems back to the earliest days of life on planet earth. These rhythms developed so that we are awake during the day and we go to sleep during night. However, since the advent of the electric light bulb, these rhythms have been drastically altered. Since the light bulb was introduced to human society, we have, through artificial light, conditioned our brains to adjust to what our biological clocks consider to be abnormal sleep and wake patterns. I know I do not consider 12:00 pm to be midnight, to me it is more of a time when I feel the need to start preparing myself for sleep. After listening to several sleep experts talk about how this is detrimental to my sleeping patterns I have decided that I will try to ween myself off the midnight oil. If you are interested in hearing from those experts on circadian rhythms, then you should watch the short video posted below.







If you do not have the time to watch this video I will give you some of its most important points. 

• You must make your bedroom as conducive to sleep as possible (ie. blackout window shades, no television)
• You must prepare yourself for sleep by avoiding watching television or tooling around on an electronic device just before going to sleep (the brightness of these devices has adverse effects on your brain which should be attempting to get ready for sleep)
• The deepest sleep you experiences occurs between 5am and 6am, the time people typically wake up (this is the least preventable interruption of our Circadian Rhythms)
• You will alter your sleeping pattern if you try to catch up on sleep during the weekend, thus creating a worse case of "the Mondays

Being more aware of the biological rhythm your body abides by, it is key if you want to make the most out of your sleep.  You do not end up waking up and acting like this

                

                                                                                             

Respect Sleep!

How I typically treat sleep

How I should treat sleep

                                                                                            


 


As I write this post, I am sipping coffee to combat the effects of a less than stellar previous night of sleep. I did not plan on staying up late, but somehow it happened, again. This is a sentiment that I am sure most people can relate to. My day typically consists of going to work, and returning home having made a pact with myself that I will go to bed at an earlier time. However, I always seem to find a way to stay up into the wee hours of the morning. How can I fix this? Well, if you are having trouble falling asleep at night, or drawing yourself away from the TV or internet so you can get a better night's sleep, then you should respect sleep more than you already do. 

The importance of sleep needs to be respected. People tend not to treat sleep with the level of importance that it deserves. Sleeping is as important, if not more important to your health than both your exercise and diet regiments. Over the past few months I have made it my job to become as well versed as possible on the science behind the importance of sleep. During this time I came across a number of scientists and doctors who are steadfast in their promotion of sleep. The sleep experts often they find that people's disregard for the importance of sleep is pervasive. If you have not heard of Dr.Czeisler of Harvard Medical already, you should. He is renowned within the science community for the work he has done regarding the study of what lack of sleep does to the human body. He is currently the sleep doctor for the Boston Celtics, and has previously been a consultant for NASA, setting the wake and sleep schedules for astronauts going to the International Space Station. Dr.Czeisler preaches the importance of sleep, and his concern for how little people seem to respect the importance of sleep. Here are just a few facts that he has repeatedly mentioned as some of the consequences that exist if you do not get enough sleep.

•  Sleep helps to consolidate memory, especially procedural memory which enables you to learn and retain new things  
• Lack of sleep negatively affects the parts of the brain that control emotional reaction and judgment

In a study Dr.Czeisler did with the National Sleep Foundation, he and his team found that "43% of Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 say they rarely or never get a good night's sleep on weeknights. More than half (60%) say that they experience a sleep problem every night or almost every night (i.e., snoring, waking in the night, waking up too early, or feeling un-refreshed when they get up in the morning.)" Those numbers are staggering, and I know that I fit into both of those categorizations. For those who are are very curious, you can follow the link I provided which will give you all of findings he and his team made. After going over all of the information in the study I am going to make a conscientious effort to respect sleep more, and I hope you do too. 


                                                         Do not be this guy anymore
                                                                                      V