3. The sleeping brain
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
The huge complexity of what happens when we are asleep explains why disentangling the neuroscience of sleep has been so difficult, and why sleep patterns can be so variable. Sleep habits ...
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2. Sleep Generation And Regulation – a Framework
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
We know a lot about what happens to the brain and body during sleep thanks to technologies for measuring electronic activity patterns across the brain. There are two distinct types of ...
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5. The seven ages of sleep
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
Sleep patterns change with age. These changes are often difficult to distinguish from changes caused by disorders, and the prevalence of some sleep disorders also change with age, further ...
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6. When sleep suffers
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
When we sleep well we take it for granted. One third of us will suffer from at least one of around seventy-five clinical sleep disorders at some point during our lives. These disorders may ...
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Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
Sleep: A Very Short Introduction addresses the biological and psychological aspects of sleep. What is sleep? Why do we need it? How much is enough? What is the impact of modern ...
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9. The 24-hour society
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
We live in a society of 24-hour news coverage, supermarkets, and internet availability. The odds are stacked against good sleep. How have we arrived at this state of affairs? Shift work is ...
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1. Sleep through the ages
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
We used to think of sleep as a state of suspended activity and unconsciousness. Nowadays, we regard sleep as an inconvenience at best, a weakness at worst. Sleep has considerable benefits. ...
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4. The reasons for sleep
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
We don't know exactly why we sleep. Sleep researchers differ on their conclusions about periods of inactivity in animals and what they represent, whether they equal sleep. ‘The reasons for ...
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1. Circadian rhythms: A 24-hour phenomenon
Russell G. Foster and Leon Kreitzman
in Circadian Rhythms: A Very Short Introduction
‘Circadian rhythms: A 24-hour phenomenon’ explains the internally generated ‘clock’ that almost all living beings on Earth possess, which allows them to optimize a vast array of ...
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9. Dreaming, learning, and memory
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘Dreaming, learning, and memory’ considers the work of Robert Stickgold and the popular theory that brain activation in sleep is necessary for us to reorder the information inside our ...
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1. What is dreaming?
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘What is dreaming?’ examines what causes dreaming, and discusses why dreams are so strange and hard to remember. Dreaming is most usefully defined and measured through perceptual, ...
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Circadian Rhythms: A Very Short Introduction
Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman
The Earth’s daily rotation affects almost every living creature. From dawn through to dusk, there are changes in light, temperature, humidity, and rainfall. However, these changes are ...
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3. When timing goes wrong
Russell G. Foster and Leon Kreitzman
in Circadian Rhythms: A Very Short Introduction
While time of day, interacting with an individual’s chronotype, can have an important impact upon performance and health, severe disruption of the circadian system adds another level of ...
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7. Dreaming as delirium: sleep and mental illness
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘Dreaming as delirium’ shows that dreaming and severe mental illness are not only analogous, but identical. It is easy to imagine that physical changes in brain state can produce psychosis, ...
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6. Disorders of dreaming
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘Disorders of dreaming’ looks at the way in which the brain systems mediating dreaming can become exaggerated or distorted, with unwelcome consequences. Nightmares and night terrors are ...
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8. Sleep and society
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
Society affects sleep and sleep affects society, influencing childhood learning and development, workplace safety and efficiency, and the economy. Society's attitude to sleep affects how ...
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7. Sleep and health
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
What happens when we do not get enough sleep or suffer from disrupted sleep? Studies relating sleep to disease are best examined by epidemiological research. Studies have shown that reduced ...
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2. Time of day matters
Russell G. Foster and Leon Kreitzman
in Circadian Rhythms: A Very Short Introduction
Numerous studies have shown that a broad range of activities—both physical and cognitive—vary across the 24-hour day. The blood pressure and heart rate of a human shows striking day–night ...
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6. Sleep: The most obvious 24-hour rhythm
Russell G. Foster and Leon Kreitzman
in Circadian Rhythms: A Very Short Introduction
Almost all life shows a 24-hour pattern of activity and rest, as we live on a planet that revolves once every 24 hours, causing profound changes in light, temperature, and food ...
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3. How is the brain activated in sleep?
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘How is the brain activated in sleep?’ explains the discovery of brain activation of sleep and how it changed the strategy from dream content to dream form. Adolf Berger's ...
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