proves to be useful

1. Sleep Disorders

2. What is sleep?
• behavior with a circadian rhythm.
• organized into cycles.
• four criteria of sleep: reduced motor
activity, decreased response to activity,
stereotypic postures, reversibility

3. Stages of sleep

4. We spend:
• 50% of our sleep time in stage 2,
• 20% in REM sleep
• 30% in the other stages.
• Experts say if you feel drowsy during the day,
you haven’t had enough sleep.
• Most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep,
teenagers about 9, and infants require about
16 hours a day.

5. • Sleep gives neurons a chance to
shut down and repair themselves.
• Sleeping may also help learning because it
gives the brain a chance to exercise neural
connections that might deteriorate
otherwise.

6. REM Sleep
• Accounts for about 25% of sleep.
• occurs once every 90 minutes.
• Brain activity is high during REM.

8. Narcolepsy
• Usually occurs in people ages
15-30.
• The exact cause is unknown
but it is linked to reduced
amounts of a protein made in
the brain called hypocretin.

9. Narcolepsy Symptoms
• Sleep paralysis – a person cannot move as
they start falling asleep or when they wake
up, may last 15 min.
• Cataplexy – Sudden loss of muscle tone
when awake that makes you unable to
move.

11. Narcolepsy Video

12. Sleep Apnea
– Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), caused by
blockage of the airway, usually when the soft
tissue in the back of throat collapses during sleep.
– Central Sleep Apnea (CSA), the brain fails to signal
the muscles to breathe due to instability in the
respiratory control center.

13. Sleep Apnea
• Breathing pauses can last a
few seconds to a few
minutes, typically when
normal breathing starts
again, it starts with a loud
snort or a choking sound.
• Disturbs nightly sleep
making the person
excessively sleepy during the
daytime.
*Interesting Fact*
Some very young infants
experience a kind of apnea due
to immaturity of the brain
stem.

14. Insomnia
• is characterized by difficulty falling asleep,
staying asleep, or getting good quality sleep.
• can be acute (short-term) or chronic
(ongoing).
• can cause daytime sleepiness, lack of energy
and trouble learning.

16. Restless Leg Syndrome
• is characterized by unpleasant sensations of
legs and an urge to move them when at the
rest.
• Effects about 12 million Americans.
• Causes: Mostly unknown (idiopathic)
• Treatment: underlying cause, some meds, and
exercise.

18. REM Behavior Disorder
• During REM sleep the electrical activity in the brain is
similar to the electrical activity that occurs when awake, but
when in REM sleep, one experiences muscle paralysis.
People with REM Behavior Disorder lack this muscle
paralysis, permitting them to act out their dramatic or
violent dreams.

19. REM Behavior Disorder
“Murder while Sleepwalking”
“In 2001 Stephen Reitz claimed to be sleepwalking when he
stabbed and beat his married girlfriend to death in their hotel
room and later walked to the police station to turn himself in.
Reitz claimed to be dreaming of attacking a male intruder in
‘flashbacks’, although he also claimed to remember nothing of
the attack. Although Reitz had no apparent motive, he did
have a history of violence and abuse. In 2004, Stephen Reitz
was convicted of first-degree murder.” (Ciccarelli, 2010).
Can watch story at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29658353/ns/dateline_nbc-crime_
reports/t/deadly-dreams/
“In 2003, Jules Lowe of Manchester, England, attacked and killed
his 82-year old father while sleepwalking. Lowe had a history of
sleepwalking, was under great stress, and had no motive to kill his
father. Sleep expert Dr. Irshaad Ebrahim testified that tests showed
Lowe to be sleepwalking at the time of the attack. In 2005, Lowe
was acquitted.” (Ciccarelli, 2010).

20. REM Behavior Disorder
– A 77-year old minister had been behaving violently in his
sleep for 20 years, sometimes even injuring his wife.
– A 60-year old surgeon would jump out of bed during
nightmares of being attacked by "criminals, terrorists and
monsters."
– A 62-year old industrial plant manager who was a war veteran
dreamt of being attacked by enemy soldiers and fights back in
his sleep, sometimes injuring himself.
– A 57-year old retired school principal was inadvertently
punching and kicking his wife for two years during vivid
nightmares of protecting himself and family from aggressive
people and snakes. (National Sleep Foundation, 2011)

21. THANK YOU!