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Help researching sleep
Comments
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The best place to start is with research papers/articles that have some reasonable evidence to back them up. Many university libraries have online resources for research papers/journals that you can access. If you aren't a student/alum of one you might be able to get a card as a community member. Your public library may also have access to those kind of online resources. In the mean time you can also use various online search tools: http://www.teachthought.com/technology/100-search-engines-for-academic-research/ Like scholar.google.com : https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=why+we+need+sleep&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=
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Why, of course my good sir. This is actually a question to which we don't currently have a definitive answer. However, we know some deficits present in individuals that do not get enough sleep:[1] Restorative sleep predicts the resolution of chronic widespread pain - People who don't get enough sleep appear to be more prone to chronic pain.[2] Poor sleep in adolescents - Found an association between poor sleep and anxiety and depression[3] The memory function of sleep - Sleep appears to help us to consolidate newly acquired information as memories. Even more awesome, this is a property of naps [4] [5] as well as nighttime sleep.[6], Sleep Duration and All-Cause Mortality - Not getting enough sleep appears to contribute to a decline in health factors across the entire spectrum, leading to an increase in your chance of dying from any cause. Another one here: [7]. Oh, and if you deprive yourself of sleep for too long, you will die [8]. Although this is likely to never happen, you still get the nasty side effects of compromised immune function [9], cognitive performance [10], and a host of other issues.Most recently sleep researchers have found an actual mechanism by which this could be occurring (though more than likely it is just one of many to be discovered). Pretty awesome, though, definitely check it out.[11] Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from Adult Brain - Basically discusses how sleep clears out certain toxins that accumulate during wakefulness, and how sleep plays a role in fluid regulation of the brain.I recommend using https://scholar.google.com/, as well as Web of Science if you know exactly what you're looking for. Just search for keywords related to your topic and what you're interested in finding out about it. Good luck! Oh, and I'd be remiss if I went a whole sleep post without mentioning something on polyphasic sleep.
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Cyberlass: I figured I'd most likely have to use my schools research databases but I won't be back for school for another month, wanted to try and get a head start though I could still use some of the other resources you mentioned, thanks. Bciuser: that's exactly something I was trying to find, haven't had a chance to read it since im at work but sounds promising.
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I usually start on Scholar also. It's really easy to look up passwords for access also. It's best to try to find a login associated with a university as there are tiers of access. I use EBSCOhost all the time with a UCSD login. I have my own login r/t the community college I attended it has limited access. Google yourself up a good login.
In terms of sleep, I've got a fantastic biohack in the works associated with shifting the circadian rythm. PM me if you're interested. Adenosine does directly promote sleep, but it also acts as an inhibitor to Orexin which seems to be one of the primary arousal ligands. It can't really be simplified to one ligand though... the arousal system contains cholinergic, noradrenergic, serotoninergic, dopaminergic, and histaminergic neurons. These are constantly firing in a certain pattern to maintain arousal. The primary endogenous inhibitory neurotransmitter is GABA which decreases the firing of the entire system which tapers down in activity until sleep... other areas actually become more active though in turn.
Stuff to look into: RAS ( reticular activation center) This is essentially the sleep/wake center. Specifically look up the roles of Orexin (usually called hypocritin in neuroscience) and melatonin in this area.
VLPO (Ventrolateral Preoptic Neurons) This is an area in which lesions can inhibit sleep. Look up the role of GABA and Galanin.
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus - to me, this is where the gold's at. It's essentially the center for circadian control.
So, while there is tons of overlap between these structures as well as a other areas not discussed... the first two centers are more related to acute sleep vs. arousal, while the SCN is related to longer term patterns.
I'm assuming that you're looking for a pharmacological solution here which is why I'm focusing on messenger systems. I left out the role of the pituitary and pineal gland and neglected to even mention Geitzeiebers. There are a lot of rather cool non-pharm related options such as controlling what wavelengths of light you see, different patterns and frequencies of sound, and the like.
Basically... you'd really need to narrow down what you'd like to do. There is just so much and so many approaches to studying it.
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You could sleep polyphasically, that reduces the amount of sleep needed.
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Polyphasic is a pain in the ass, I could never get the hang of it. Takes me too much effort to fall asleep.
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While doing my overnights i try to do "power naps" in the hope of being more awake but the ending out come is generally about 5-10min of me feeling good then I want to sleep again. My stents are about 20min long usually 2-3 times and then I sleep for 8hrs when I get off shift. I'm hesitant to post the link to the wiki on polyphasic sleep because my phone doesn't like to post working links but I'll sum it up. Wozniak says it messes with the circadian rytham and should not be practiced. I can say it doesn't help me any but I also have to say it seems to be how my baby sleeps and she's grouchy after about 10min of being awake from it and some times she's happy as a clam so I don't know how much that helps.
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@cassox, in the spirit of open access, it would be nice if you'd post your circadian rhythm hack rather than request he PM you for it. Just saying.
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It's still in the works Frank. @Cassox usually shares his research, but only after he's got it fairly far along.
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Sleep is super crucial, as @bciuser mentioned. We still don't even really know all the things it is used for, or the long term effects of altering it in various ways. Cass likes to be super sure about things before he writes about them. A good quality, in interests of safety. Not all of us make good decisions about safety... >_>Some of us like to share before we are positive about things, but some of us also flail around and could possibly get people hurt, so it's a rough trade. It's all a mater of how responsible you feel for others decisions. This is really important when we're discussing sleep.
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Aye aye. Just putting in my two cents. I understand.
