Sleep is an essential part of the day, one that most people disregard to their disadvantage. An indispensable device of sleep is the internal circadian clock, responsible not only for inducing sleep but also for controlling the many stages of sleep (Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, n.d.). Below in Figure 1, it can be seen that the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stages of sleep are associated with a greater depth of sleep.
It is during these peaks of deep sleep that most of our memories become consolidated (DSMHMS, n.d.). The process of memory consolidation involves the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is responsible for replaying each day’s memories to the neocortex, which reviews memories and evaluates them for long-term storage. This can be imagined as a nightly housekeeping process that results in the organization of information collected and learned throughout the day.
What follows is that a regular sleep cycle is essential for keeping in good health on both a shorter- and longer-term scale as well as for effectively performing common daily tasks and activities (Milojevich and Lukowski, 2016). A regular sleep cycle contributes mainly to: (1) positive behaviour and mood during the active, work phase of our lives, (2) a greater ability to acquire new information and understand new concepts, (3) the consolidation in our memories of said information and concepts, including the ability to recall efficiently (Kühnel et al., 2017).
Without sufficient time spent resting, human beings are therefore in a deficit of REM peaks (less hours of sleep correspond to less REM peaks; see Figure 1), contributing to poor focus and memory consolidation. Scientists and students alike may find that even common tasks such as taking measurements or recalling important information can be difficult given a lack of sleep.
Therefore, it is necessary to be aware of the methods that can be used to achieve more sleep. Building a schedule that conforms to your sleep and wake times (and not vice versa) is an excellent method. It automatically attributes greater priority to sleep, ensuring that enough time is spent on sleep daily.
It seems that all one could need now is a saying – let us collectively embrace the golden hierarchy as enumerated by Dr. Chad Harvey, “Sleep–Health–Academics.’
References
Chara, P. J., 2017. Sleep. Salem Press Encyclopedia Of Science, Research Starters, EBSCOhost. [Accessed October 3, 2017].
Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School (DSMHMS), n.d. Benefits of Sleep. Healthy Sleep, [online] Available at: <http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory> [Accessed 26 September 2017].
Milojevich, H. M. and Lukowski, A. F., 2016. Sleep and Mental Health in Undergraduate Students with Generally Healthy Sleep Habits. PLoS ONE, [e-journal] 11(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156372.
Kühnel, J., Zacher, H., de Bloom, J., and Bledow, R., 2017. Take a break! Benefits of sleep and short breaks for daily work engagement. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, [e-journal] 26(4), pp.481-491. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2016.1269750.
Comments
13 Responses to “Sleep–Health–Academics”
Hi everyone,
Here is my first blog post! I was inspired by one of Chad’s sayings, “Sleep-Health-Academics,” and really wanted to delve into the neuroscience aspects of why exactly this is what it is. During my research, I found it quite interesting how the biology (the mechanisms of sleep) interacted with physics (the characteristics of sleep, in the different types of waves associated with the different stages of sleep). I hope this is an interesting read and that it motivates you to establish a better sleeping routine!
Thanks,
Aakanx
Hi Aakanx,
You discussed a lot of very interesting content in your article. I have alway been fascinated by the onset of hallucinations as a result of sleep deprivation.
However, I would suggest that you revise the final sentence in the third paragraph. I believe you want to say that a given tasks become harder to perform, but this was not articulated in the sentence.
Overall, a pleasure to read.
Leeor
Hi Leeor,
I’m glad you liked the read! I did come across hallucinations during my research (very interesting phenomenon!)
Yes, the third sentence in the final paragraph does sound muddy. I’ll make sure its less awkward.
Thanks,
Aakanx
Hi Aakanx,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post! Typically blog posts don’t have subheadings so I would advise removing those. Keep in mind blog post should be between 400-500 words. Also, I highly recommend reading and citing some peer-reviewed journal articles as they will help with the credibility of your blog post, WebMD isn’t the greatest source. Overall, really well done.
Happy editing,
Helena
Hi Helena,
Thank you so much for your comments. I would really like if you could point me in the direction of some good peer-reviewed sources. I tried library.mcmaster.ca but a lot of the sources I found I was not able to access because of a “Get it!” function that required payment. (In terms of the word count, I realize I did go slightly over 500; I will need to make the post more concise.)
Thanks,
Aakanx
Hi Aakanx,
I was so glad to see that someone wrote a blog post about this topic, it’s so important but (like you said) tends to get ignored way too often! I have just a couple of suggestions:
– I agree with Helena’s comment – the blog posts are pretty informal, we generally don’t need subheadings.
– The content of your post is generally interesting and well-articulated, but maybe consider changing up the structure or adding a couple transition sentences to make things flow more smoothly? Perhaps try putting the benefits of sleep section before the consequences of sleep deprivation.
– Try formatting your ‘quick tip’ into a sentence rather than two colon-separated clauses in a row (“here is an idea…: being consistent:…”)
Great post, and I loved the Chad quote at the end! 🙂
Ciara
Hi Ciara,
Thank you for your comment! I absolutely agree with your suggestions: I will remove the subheadings, add some transition words and sentences, and shorten the quick tip.
I was not completely sure about moving my benefits section before the consequences section; however, now that I realize how the consequences of sleep are often overstated compared to its benefits, shifting the benefits section before the consequences section might just be a good idea.
(I’m glad you liked the Chad quote!)
Thanks for the suggestions,
Aakanx
Hi Aakanx,
It’s nice to see someone do a blog post on this, sleep is very important and admittedly a lot of iScis tend to forget that. A few things:
1) I agree with Ciara and Helena though, that most blog posts you see on here don’t have subheadings.
2)Going along with what Leeor said as well, that last sentence in the third paragraph is confusing to read. “Scientists and student alike may quickly find that common tasks to their respective fields, whether that is measuring multiple exact quantities of a solution in the lab or dealing with content that requires recall on an assessment.” shorten the sentence, take out the extra words. Maybe change it to something like “Scientists and students alike may find that even common tasks such as taking measurements or recalling important information can be difficult given a lack of sleep”, and even that can be fixed up a bit.
3) Finally, I’m not sure if you are using Zotero, but your I checked your first citation and it seems it was last reviewed in 2007? Sometimes Zotero doesn’t pick up the date correctly and defaults to the current year (don’t worry too much about this though ,I’m just generally nitpicky about these things)
Anyways, sorry this is long, but I really did enjoy your blog post the general message of your article. Happy editing!
Nadia Al Hashemi
Hi Nadia,
I really appreciate your comment and suggestions.
I have removed the subheadings now; they were, in fact, too formal for a blog post. I will fix that sentence in the third paragraph to the best of my ability as well (I like the flow of the sentence that you suggested instead and I will definitely base mine off of yours).
Lastly, I would just like to mention that I’m not quite familiar with Zotero. (Nonetheless, it seems like a very useful tool). Do you think you could tell me more about it?
Thanks,
Aakanx
Hi Aakanx,
Good job on your blog post! Your topic was interesting to read about and I liked how you clearly stated the interdisciplinary elements of the subject matter. I just have a few suggestions:
1, In your opening sentence, I’d suggest substituting the comma after “day” for a semicolon just to improve the flow of that sentence a little bit
2, In your figure caption, there should be a colon after “Figure 1”
3, I agree with Helena’s suggestion of gathering more credible sources to support your blog post. You’ll also need to add more citations to your post in order to reference it properly
Anyways, great job overall! I look forward to the finished product.
Hannah Hosein
Hi Hannah,
Thank you for your suggestions!
I’m not entirely sure about inserting a semicolon in the middle of the sentence. However, I do see that it is unclear, so I will edit it to flow better by changing the structure within the sentence.
I will add the colon after “Figure 1,” find more credible sources, and increase the number of my citations.
Thanks,
Aakanx
Dear Aakanx,
I really liked your case for sleep with substantial scientific proof to back it up.
To add to Hannah’s comment, your introductory sentence seems to be made a little unclear by the amount of commas. Instead of “Sleep is an important part of the day, one that most people, to their disadvantage, disregard.”, you could write “Sleep is an essential part of the day, one that most people disregard to their disadvantage.
Because this post is directed to the general public, it would be good to define many of the terms you are using such as internal circadian clock, endocrine system, rapid eye movement.
It is possible to further relate your information to other fields, such as how sleep affects behaviour, or possibly how the chemistry of your brain is altered by sleeplessness.
Hope the Isci students take your advice to heart!
-Elysia
Hi Elysia,
Thank you so much for your comment and suggestions! I am glad that you appreciate the scientific information I included in the post.
Yes, the introductory sentence is definitely an element that I need to edit. I really like your suggestion; the wording you used increases the flow of the sentence.
(Keeping the word count maximum in mind), I will try my best to include more information on the terms that you specified as well as on the effects of sleep on behaviour (one of the items you mentioned in your last suggestion).
Thanks,
Aakanx