An Overview of Sleep
1994; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/b978-0-7506-9002-7.50007-0
Autores Tópico(s)Sleep and related disorders
ResumoPublisher Summary This chapter presents an overview of the sleep process. Sleep and wakefulness, the two basic processes of life, are like two different worlds with independent controls and functions. Newborns have a polyphasic sleep pattern and spend about two-thirds of their time sleeping in the first few days of life. This multiphasic sleep pattern gradually changes into the monophasic adult pattern later in life. On falling asleep, a newborn baby goes immediately into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep or active sleep that is accompanied by restless movements of the arms and legs and facial muscles. In premature babies, it is often difficult to differentiate REM from wakefulness. By the age of about 3 months, the usual non-REM (NREM) cyclic pattern is evident. Polyphasic sleep changes to biphasic sleep in preschool children and finally to monophasic sleep in adults. It reverts to bi- or multiphasic sleep in elderly persons. Contrary to general belief, human sleep does not necessarily cause restitution. It is misleading to conclude tissue restitution increases during human sleep. Rodents may exhibit increased tissue restitution during sleep but sleep is not the stimulus for such restitution.
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