PSY 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, Sleep Deprivation, Memory Consolidation
25 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Sleep enables the body and brain to repair themselves. Going without sleep causes people to be irritable, dizzy, and to have hallucinations and impaired concentration: evolutionary or energy conservation theory. We evolved to sleep so that we would conserve energy when we were least efficient. Predicts that species will sleep different amounts depending on how much they must look for food and watch for predators. Americans are not getting sufficient, quality sleep: 39% of americans are not getting the 7-9 hrs recommended for optimal health, 74% experience sleep problems that affect the quality of their sleep. Excessive daytime sleepiness is a serious consequence of sleep deprivation: daytime sleepiness affects all aspects of our lives, 37% of american adults experience daytime sleepiness that interferes with daily activities. Cognitive abilities and mood are affected by sleep deprivation: memory is impaired when sleep is not consolidated, paying attention to and completing tasks is compromised, mood is impaired.
