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Consciousness. Chapter 7 Meyers Book. Circadian Rhythms. Brain parts and sleep. Biological Clock. Time Change. What If The Circadian Clock Is Upset?. Accidents Shift workers and late-night drivers have more accidents because their sleep-wake clocks have prepared their body for sleep
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Consciousness Chapter 7 Meyers Book
What If The Circadian Clock Is Upset? • Accidents • Shift workers and late-night drivers have more accidents because their sleep-wake clocks have prepared their body for sleep • Jet Lag • State experienced by travelers in which their internal circadian clock is out of step with the external time clock at their new location • Resetting the Clock • Light Therapy • use of artificial bright light to reset the circadian clock • Melatonin Source: Data from National Highway Traffic Administration, 1992.
Figure 5.3 Circadian rhythms and jet lag. Jet lag can be assessed in a variety of ways. In a study of people flying between Detroit and London, which requires a 5-hour time shift, Nicholson et al. (1986) looked at the time it took travelers to fall asleep the night before their trip and the next five nights after their flight. As you can see, subjects who flew eastward had increased difficulty falling asleep, whereas subjects who flew westward showed no evidence of jet lag on this measure. The data are consistent with other findings that air travelers generally adjust more slowly after flying east (which shortens their day) than after flying west (which lengthens it). (Data from “Sleep After Transmeridian Flights,” by A. N. Nicholson, P.A. Pascoe, M. B. Spencer, B.M. Stone, T. Roehis & T. Roth, 1986, Lancet, 2, 1201-08.)
Figure 5.4 People traveling east suffer more serious jet lag than people traveling west.
Figure 5.9 Sleep time for mammals varies widely. Animals that are rarely attacked sleep a lot; those in danger of attack sleep only a few hours. Diet also relates to sleep. (Based on data from Zepelin & Rechtschaffen, 1974)
Sleep Disorders • Insomnia is the inability to achieve or maintain sleep • Many causes for insomnia: • Stress • Depression • Sleeping pills (iatrogenic means physician-caused) • Some suggestions for treating insomnia • Only use your bed for sleeping • Avoid physical activity prior to sleep • Avoid consumption of caffeine and alcohol before bed • Keep a regular sleep schedule • Go to bed when you are ready(do not force sleep) • Do not sleep during the day if you have insomnia
Figure 5.7 The vicious circle of dependence on sleeping pills. Because of the body’s ability to develop tolerance to drugs, using sedatives routinely to “cure” insomnia can lead to a vicious circle of escalating dependency as larger and larger doses of the sedative are needed to produce the same effect.
