MichaelPrewitt.com » sleep

Sweet (Smelling) Dreams

Michael — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:43:40 +0000

According to a BBC article, “Sweet Smells Foster Sweet Dreams,” what we smell at night can affect our dream state. Presumably that would also affect the quality of our sleep.

From the article:

Professor Tim Jacob, an expert in smell and taste at Cardiff University, said: “Smell is the only sense that doesn’t ‘sleep’. Information continues to reach the limbic system of the brain and that includes the hippocampus, or memory area and the amygdala, that is involved with emotional response.

“Other senses have to pass through the ‘gate’ of the thalamus, which is closed when we sleep.”

Nap Time!

Michael — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:43:55 +0000

Feeling the need for a few more Z’s in your day? It may be a good idea to allocate the time. The Boston Globe has posted a cool info-graphic about napping here:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/naps/

What Happens When We Sleep, What Happens When We Don’t

Michael — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:27:47 +0000

“Chronic sleep deprivation is widely considered a side effect of living in a 24/7 society. It’s even documented that people living in industrialized nations get about an hour less sleep a night than they did 40 years ago. But until recently, people generally considered the effects of such sleep to be inconsequential.

“If only. A study last summer showed how, contrary to common wisdom, our bodies can’t make up for chronic sleep loss. The authors suggested that the accumulated deficit did more than just make people feel a little tired or short-tempered. Chronic sleep loss of even two to three hours per night held the potential to hamper body and mind functioning, not to mention quality of life.”

The article goes on to list several serious consequences of sleep deprivation.

Yawn. I think I need more naps….