Move over Everyman; Überman is Here

This is an update to let you guys know that our group is changing things up a little. So far we have been going by a schedule called “The Everyman.” This means that we have been sleeping little a night, and making up for it with naps throughout the day. This has been working according to plan, but adaptation is a very slow process.

We only have until the end of this week to work on this project, and at this rate, we will not be at any final product by then. Because of this, we have decided to change our pattern to one called “The Uberman.” This is the one that most people know of. We will be taking 20 minute naps every 4 hours for the rest of the week. Hopefully by Friday we will be able to determine if the project is working, and how well it is working.

Check-In:  This is Your Body on Uberman

This is what we look like when we are exhausted. No judgements, please.

Polyphasic Sleep Data – One Week In

Here’s how we stack up after one week of polyphasic sleep.

Some charts n’ stuff from this morning’s nap as well as reaction time data and good feeling data

On your “good sleep” list, you’ve got all your sheep in place, so to speak.

• Deep Sleep De-Mystified? Check.

• REM remastered? Check.

• 7 Steps for Sleeping Soundly? Check.

The only thing your missing is Wake.  Or rather, you’re not missing it – you want to know what to do about it.

For the record, I only remembered the "Wake" in the middle -and it felt like forever.

I’ll know it when I see it, right?

Wake is a funny thing.  For instance, we as humans constantly misjudge our time in wake. We’re only right about 45% of the time.  For some, it’s even less.  I myself know that I rarely remember being awake unless it’s for more than 5 minutes.

Don’t worry though – not being able to remember your awakenings is not a sign of dementia.

And then there’s that whole time warp thing going on while you’re awake.  You know, that “I’ve been lying here for ages” feeling you get when you’re trying to fall back asleep.  For those suffering from broken sleep – sleep that is constantly interrupted by periods of wake – this can add to the frustration.

What to do about it?  How can I get rid of that dreaded “Wake” bar(s) once and for all?

You can’t.

I’ll let Dr. John Winkelman explain why.

News Flash:  You Wake Up A Lot More than You Think

Did you catch that?  We wake up, on average, 70 times a night.

70.

Holy Cow.

Did you know that?

Keep in mind that most of these awakenings are less than a minute long.  As you know, Zeo doesn’t record anything shorter than 30 seconds, and looks at the past five minutes to figure out what it should call that period.

So you’re waking up, but don’t see it in your sleep graph.  Instead, you’re getting depressed about the few 5 minute Wake bars (which could only be 2 minutes in reality) that show up in everyone’s sleep, no matter their age.  There’s a good chance that you don’t even remember that longer wake.

What to do?  Am I really telling you to just not worry about it?

Of course not.   There are things you can do to decrease the amount of time you spend in Wake each night- and I will share them with you.  I really want you to have the best sleep possible.

Ready?  Let’s go.

Taking Matters into Your Own Hands

The first thing for you to do is relax.  Seriously, stress doesn’t do your sleep any favors.

For instance, that chunk of wake in the sleep graph was from stress.  My body was waking me up to say “Andi!  You didn’t deal with issue X earlier – and it’s killing your sleep!   Deal with it, so that we can get some rest!”

The second thing you could do is look at your overall sleep patterns.  Do you get a typical amount of Deep, REM, Light and Wake (yes, Wake) for your age?  If so, then congrats.  You’re sleep -and Wake- is statistically okay.

Typical Zeo users, with breakdown by Age and Sex, 1 Standard Deviation

However, if you fall into the camp of “too much Wake” – what Dr. John called “Excessive Wake” – then it might be a good time to take inventory of your lifestyle and habits. That’s step three.

It’s possible that there could be some underlying issues – chronic pain, perhaps – that make it harder for your body to stay asleep.  Of maybe you’ve got a young kid who needs you at 3am or you’re going through a huge, life changing event.

It could be what you eat & drink – or even, what you don’t.

Your circadian rhythm could be off as well, or you’re trying to sleep when you’re not tired.  Travel, shift work, and light exposure all have an impact on our circadian rhythm, which in turn predicts whether or not we’re going to successfully “sleep through a night.”

Lastly, stop worrying about what being awake at night might mean for the next day.  Instead, teach yourself to focus on how much sleep -and its quality- you got.

Despite being awake for over an hour, I came pretty close to my standard amounts of Deep and REM.  Seeing that in the morning actually made it easier to face the day than just relying on my memory.

In short, the best way to manage your Time in Wake is to manage your daily life.  It’s been said before, but what you do during the day really helps you sleep more soundly – and with less interruptions – during the night.

Sleep Well!

Related Articles

• Sleep:  Forgetting to Remember to Forget
• How to Write Your Worries Away – At 2:45am
• What’s a typical number of awakenings for my age?
• Can I have more awakenings than I remember?
• A Tale of Two Sleepers

Andi (ZQ: 86) is the editor of Zeology. By tweet or by post, email or Expert Answer, she makes sure people get the information they need about sleep.

REM.

What was it I was supposed to remember?

It’s the stage of sleep where a day’s memories are processed and stored.  Anything that you’ve deemed to be “important” will be cataloged somewhere in your brain while the rest will be forgotten.

If you skimp out on REM – say by not getting enough sleep- you’ll negatively impact this process and won’t be able to remember anything, right?  I mean, that’s what we’ve been saying.

Maybe.

This is Your Brain on REM

The scientific theory that sleep in general benefits memory performance is well established, but is has changed over the years.

Early sleep studies claimed that depriving people of REM sleep impairs certain kinds of memory formation, namely declarative memory, the next day.

In addition, studies done on insomniacs noticed that REM sleep was seen to correlate with comparatively higher levels of memory consolidation, most likely compensating for lower levels of Deep sleep.

Since then, the best evidence for memory consolidation during REM comes from neuroimaging (PET) scans.

Red = most active, Purple = least active

These snapshots of the brain show that the areas involved with long-term memory and retrieval are actually more active than in waking states. What’s more, the brain’s emotional center is also highly activated, suggesting that consolidation of emotional memories are especially targeted during REM.

Light Sleep is good, too

However, new evidence indicates that the consolidation of memory also takes place outside of REM sleep.

A 2010 study found that subjects who napped AND dreamed of a memory-related task during a non-REM nap–that is, they did not go into REM sleep at all– improved their performance of the task later on.

Wamsley et al., Dreaming of a Learning Task is Associated with Enhanced Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation, Current Biology, 2010 May 11: 20(9): 850-855

On top of that, certain features of sleep architecture are now thought to play a role in the overall memory process. Sleep spindles, which typically occur in Light sleep, are now thought to play a role in declarative memory consolidation along with REM.

Don’t let the name fool you; Light sleep is now thought to do a fair amount of heavy lifting so don’t despair when you look at your sleep data.

Hormones for Human Growth

Finally, hormones are now recognized as an important piece of memory consolidation.

Low levels of cortisol–a major stress hormone–are associated with memory consolidation, whereas increased levels impair consolidation. In healthy sleepers, cortisol remains low in the first part of the night–when we have most of our Deep sleep mixed with Light–but tends to increase towards morning.

So while REM sleep still plays an active role in memory consolidation, it’s important to remember that other sleep stages and bodily functions appear to play important roles as well.  To keep this process humming along, make sure that you keep your sleep habits in good order.

Your memories will thank you for it.

Related Content

• Are there any associations between insomnia and memory loss?
• How important is Light sleep?
• The 3 Rules of Deep Sleep
• Is it beneficial or harmful to get more REM and Deep sleep than Light?
• What is stress and how can it affect sleep?

Q:  Can banking sleep really prevent tiredness? I just read an article on it and I am surprised by the findings! What do the sleep experts out there think?

A: While it’s common knowledge that getting a good night’s sleep improves performance and lessens fatigue, recent sleep research indicates that “banking sleep” beforehand can improve performance after subsequent sleep restriction or total deprivation. Also, banking sleep before an expected time of sleep deprivation allows you to recover from the deprivation faster.  However, insufficient sleep recovery could quickly result in chronic sleep debt.

The formal term for banking sleep is “sleep extension.” By getting a good night’s sleep, subjects of an earlier 2009 study were able to stay more alert than those who didn’t bank sleep before undergoing a week straight of only 3 hours of sleep a night. Banking sleep also led to higher scores on various cognitive tests– though don’t wait until the night before an exam to start getting more!

For those who are competitive athletes, a 2008 study noticed that sailors who banked sleep before a long, grueling sail not only were less sleepy, they ended up winning the Tour de France à la voile. So sleep management is a crucial element of strategy in difficult tasks of endurance.

Even if you’re not a soldier or athlete, managing sleep can make a real difference in ordinary life. This is crucial, as most of us don’t get enough sleep during the week and try to catch up by sleeping in during the weekend.

Be careful, though.  This “5 days on, 2 days off” model may not be enough to repay your debt in the first place. Insufficient sleep recovery over the weekend may lead to good performance on Monday, but it’s followed by rapidly worsening alertness and cognitive performance as the sleep-restricted week wears on. This pattern is called chronic sleep debt, and it requires more than a couple days of sleeping in an extra hour to get back to normal.

To keep yourself in the black, it’s therefore best to bank your sleep every night by getting the recommended 7-9 hours.

Related Content:

• Can I reduce the amount of sleep I need every night?
• What’s the difference between 5 hours and 7 hours of sleep?
• Paying back your sleep deficit
• Is there a good sleep schedule for shift workers?
• How Keeping a Schedule Keeps you Healthy

Check out the original post here

Q: If over a week you sleep with one ‘deficit’ night and six normal nights, can you ‘rollover’ your need for a night of ‘repayment’ until the NEXT week…or even, the week after that?

Where are you on this graph?

If it’s a night of just 30 min restricted sleep–say you stayed up a little later to watch the game– the debt may be paid off in small chunks over the course of normal nights through a deeper sleep, with no noticeable effects on sleep need. However, if it’s complete sleep deprivation–you took the red eye home instead of “losing a day”–then the effects could be substantial.

Not-So-Fun Fact: Cutting back on sleep every night for a week–even by just an hour or so–could leave you feeling as though you had skipped a whole night.

On top of that, sleep debt can accumulate. If it’s a constant, severe restriction, the effects will stick around for a long time and require a large amount of extended sleep. Some sleep researches have even suggested that a single night’s sleep debt could take as much as a month to pay back. You could feel “fine” and rested, but still have a lingering effects of a slept debt, such as slower reaction time and memory processing.  If your sleep debt is due to jet lag, your body’s now trying to do two things–make up for missing sleep and get everything back on schedule–which could result in an even longer “pay back” period.

In regards to chronic sleep deprivation–the kind that accumulates from not getting enough during the week, then trying to play “catch up” on the weekend– there’s no good evidence of an expiration date for sleep debt. Instead, the debt just keeps rolling over, night after night.

What this means is that even after a “good night’s sleep” your body is still not operating at it’s full potential.  You won’t have enough ooopmh for your workout routine or that pick-up softball game, which could leave you feeling frustrated.  That nightly Sudoku round will be harder and take longer.  On the health front, your body will be more susceptible to weight gain and the problems associated with it, such as diabetes and heart disease.

The best thing to do is to keep your balance up by getting enough sleep (7-9 hours) every night.  Start working off whatever debt you have tonight.  Be patient about how long that could take, but also revel in how good you feel each morning with that extra sleep.   If you pay back your debt, you’ll be in much better shape if you do have to stay up a little later one night, or take that red-eye.

Related Questions

• Can “banking sleep” really prevent tiredness?
• Is it possible to reduce the amount of sleep you need?
• Jet Lag:  Is it better to take a quick nap or just push on through?
• What are the physiological differences between 5 and 7 hours of sleep?
• What are the risks of polyphasic sleep?

Check out the original answer here.

Steve (ZQ: 100) is our resident Research Scientist, working to help people understand the science behind Zeo, as well as the science of sleep. He is one of the driving forces behind our Sleep Research Center

Q: What are the physiological differences between someone who gets by on 5 hours vs. 7 hours of sleep a night? I’ve heard that some people are “just fine” after only 5 hours.

First off, the recommended sleep averages are only that: averages. Every person has a unique relationship to sleep and health, and the most important goal in learning more about your sleep patterns is to find what works for you. The goal with sleep health is finding the factors that lead to you feeling refreshed after sleep and invigorated throughout the day.

That said, research into sleep has found significant health issues related to differences in sleep duration. Mortality studies suggest that those who get less than seven hours (as well as much more than seven) have a shorter life span. The risk of disease due to consistent sleep restriction of five hours or less is also elevated, particularly coronary artery disease, stroke and hypertension. Those who sleep less than seven hours are also more likely to be obese, diabetic and have compromised immune systems as well as high blood pressure.

Did you know that you can lose up to 15lbs just by sleeping more each night?

Particular at risk for cardiovascular disease are adults 60 years and older who sleep five hours or less. The chance of getting this disease is up to three times greater than those who sleep seven hours, according to a 2010 study.

On the cognitive side, those who sleep five hours or less have shorter attention spans, more negative emotions and less memory recall. On top of that, longer reaction time is another cognitive trait of sleep restriction, meaning that it could take you twice as long (if not longer) to perform tasks or react in a dangerous situation. If you’re driving after not getting enough sleep, that extra second it takes for you to keep your car from drifting could mean the difference between life and death.

Even Spock needs 7 hours to keep the logic flowing.

As if that wasn’t enough, those who sleep less than 7 hours tend to make poorer food choices. Even if you normally shun high fat, sugary foods, that double chocolate glaze on the break room table looks more tempting to a sleep deprived brain than a well-rested one. And of course, those who sleep five hours of less are often fatigued during the day, and more likely to need stimulants in the morning and for making it through the day.

As a side note: true “short sleepers” often don’t require caffeine or a nap to keep them going during the day.

In short, when you’re cutting back on the sleep, your body notices it on many different levels. To keep everything in good working order–as well as staying fit, smart, and having more energy all around– make sure you’re getting an adequate amount of sleep every night.

Related Questions

• Can “banking sleep” really prevent tiredness?
• Is it possible to reduce the amount of sleep I need every night?
• Are there any associations between insomnia and memory loss?
• Sleep State Goals: How Do I Know What to Strive For?

Check out the original Answer here

Back in the fall, we started up a little Q&A Service as a way of answering the myriad of questions our Zeo users had about sleep.

The way it all worked went something like this:

1. You had a question about sleep like “why exactly do we sleep?”
2. You sent it to us via this handy-dandy form
3. We sent it along the the appropriate expert
4. They weighed in and contact us
5. We contacted you with the response
6. You were happy.  Hooray!

Except for one, teeny tiny flaw:  there was no way for other users to access those questions.  None.  I mean, how did you know whether or not someone already asked if it was unusual to go directly from Wake to REM?  Unless you hacked into someone’s email account (creepy, btw), you didn’t.  So you asked the same question.  And after that, you then asked about tips for increasing Deep Sleep, which 50 other Zeo users asked as well.  It didn’t take too long for us to realize that we needed to make some adjustments.

Knowledge is Power

So I’m pleased to announce that there is now an archive of common Zeo Expert Answers here on Zeology and can easily be accessed from the nav bar at the top of every Zeology page.

You can search the archive by category–Sleep Stages, The Science of Sleep, Health, Fitness & Sleep, Sleep Hacking–or use Lijit Search to pull answers and articles from the whole Zeology site.  And if you don’t find an answer to your question,  send it directly to us and we’ll add it to the archive.  No need to get lost looking for answers in the great internet wasteland anymore.

It’s just a little archive now, but rest assured that this is going to be a dynamic and ongoing project; we’re excited about all the different directions it will grow into, and have big visions for the future.  Per usual, we’re going to ask for your help along the way, but hey, that’s what being part of a community is all about.

Take a look, read some of the answers, and let us know what you think.  You can comment below or join this thread on our forum.

One last thing. The Expert Answers form is not a shortcut to Zeo Customer Support.  If you have any technical or product support related questions, send them to our CS team here here; otherwise a request for a new SD card could get lost in the shuffle.

Hope to read your question soon!

Andi (ZQ: 86) is the editor of Zeology. By tweet or by post, email or Expert Answer, she makes sure people get the information they need about sleep.

Join the forum discussion on this post

The booth is humming, bustling, buzzing and the bass is thumping.   Jeremy, Jason, Derek and Ben are fielding questions left and right.  Headbands are in for 2011.   There are cameras, press, business cards, and notes scrawled on handouts and scraps of paper.  Booth 2823 is clearly the place to be–and it’s only 11:25am.  There’s another day and a half of this, easy.

Derek@Zeo being interviewed Friday morning

It’s also been like this since yesterday;  to say that we’ve been busy is an understatement.  Here’s a taste of all that’s happened in the last 24 hours.

• How do you make sleep even cooler?  Just add fitness & personal health, of course.  With Withings and DigiFit at CES, it’s even easier to understand how sleep, exercise, and weight all come together.

• Have you ever tried speed dating? (Nothing to be ashamed about, BTW).  What about speed dating with members of the press?  Yesterday, Dave, Anne Louise, Jeremy, Ben, and Jason give it a whirl at Showstoppers–4 hours of spreading the Zeo love.  Definitely worth a second date.
  

  Jason's speed date

• Going to the Mashable Awards Gala and getting a Cirque du Soleil Zumanity performance as part of the show.  Talk about an exploration of what’s possible–and where the future is heading.

• WIRED hand-selecting Zeo for their booth as a great example as what it means to be an “Adventure Capitalist”. Click on the photo for a close up.
  

  In 2011, be an Adventure Capitalist.

• Booth babes dressed like lizards and showgirls in feathers selling products for Mom.  Only in Vegas.

Clearly, a great start to a phenomenal event.  Stay tuned for more updates, video, photos, and tweets from us!

In Ancient Greece, if you had a question, chances are you’d head out to an oracle and ask her.  While the answer might not always be what you had in mind, you always got one, and–in that weird twist of fate– it usually ended up being pretty revealing and relevant.

If anything, those who didn’t head the oracle’s advice–or didn’t ask any follow up questions to clear any confusion– often paid for it later (See: Oedipus; parents).

More Answers, Less Divination

If you think about it, the Expert Answers process is pretty similar.  Like a Greek hero on a quest to “know your sleep,” you send along a question and get an answer back from an expert.  As a result, you take action and share your findings to help others make better decisions.

Today, we’d like to further your journey by sharing one Zeo user’s question, as well as the Expert Answer from John Winkelman, MD, PhD, of Sleep HealthCenters in Brighton, MA.  Hopefully, it will help you navigate through untold hazards along the way, like having one too many drinks with Bacchus close to bedtime, or being lured by the sleep-in sirens of Sunday morning.

The Question:

BobfromQueensNY asks:

Has anyone had success with a product or remedy which “prevents” them from rolling onto their back?  Will inhibiting my movements be more disruptive than the breathing issues positional therapy is supposed to fix?

The Answer:

Not the question you had in mind?  Ask yours here! You can also consult our YouTube channel for additional Q&A.  More will be posted in the coming weeks; subscribe to stay tuned!

Andi (ZQ: 86) is the editor of Zeology. By tweet or by post, email or Expert Answer, she makes sure people get the information they need about sleep.

About a month ago, we launched the Expert Answers feature here on the blog, and we’ve been asked and have answered a lot of great questions. A couple weeks ago, we posted an answer to a question here on the blog about the differences between Deep and REM sleep.

Well, we also had a discussion about this with John Winkelman, MD, PhD, out of Sleep HealthCenters in Brighton, Massachusetts. Check out the videos below and get the information straight from the expert.

The Question:

Submitted by Zeo user John:

As far as restorative sleep, how is REM different from Deep? I typically get 2.5-3 hours of REM and 20 of Deep. Does the ratio of these 2 types of sleep mean anything?

The Answer:

Part 1: Dr Winkelman explains the differences between Deep sleep and REM sleep:

Part 2: Dr Winkelman discusses the ratio of Deep to REM sleep:

Got Questions?

That’s just a taste of the information we were able to glean from our discussion with Dr Winkelman, but hopefully you will find it helpful. If you have more questions about sleep, just ask away, and we’ll make sure you get the best answers available.

Steve (ZQ: 100) is our resident Research Scientist, working to help people understand the science behind Zeo, as well as the science of sleep. He is one of the driving forces behind our Sleep Research Center.