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By the end of this session you will be able to…
Identify the changes in sleep across the lifespan
Describe at least one piece or research relating to lifespan changes in sleep
Premature babies’ EEGs are not valid as not in utero
Okai (1992) Studied REM and NREM sleep in unborn babies of 30 pregnant women
REM phases could be identified by 32 weeks
This correlates with development of neural structures in the brain known to be responsible for sleep stages.
New-borns spend about 17 hours a day sleeping. About 50% in REM sleep.Sleep is interrupted every 3-4hours
By 6 months babies sleep longerSleep periods extend to about 6hrs and
tend to be more associated with night timeMay be influenced by parents
By 12 monthsTotal sleep has
declined to about 13 hours (Sheldon 1996)
REM sleep has decreased to 4-5 hours
2-3 yearsDay time naps still
common
Armitage (2009) found that babies of depressed mothers took longer to fall asleep than those of other mothers. Also, they had more sleep episodes during the day.
Mechanism unclear but thought to be linked to maternal hormones and/or genetics.
Baird (2009) found that risk of waking at night was associated with maternal depression prior to the pregnancy.
From age 5 to adolescence total sleep declines.
Younger children sleep deeply at the start of the evening (SWS) before usual cycles start.
Pre-teens tend to wake refreshed from sleep.
Social pressures such as reduced parental influence and staying up later.
Crowley (2007) showed that adolescent sleep patterns vary with the school year.Circadium rhythms reset on school Mondays
result in jet-lag.
Carskadon (1998) found A grade 16-18yr olds slept an average of an hour a day longer than other students.
Sleep time and structure both change during adulthood.
Redline (2004) meta analysisAs we age
Total sleep decreases Time to get to sleep increases Night time wakings increases Feeling refreshed on waking increases Feeling sleepy in the day increases Daytime naps increase
Object measurements
Reporting difficulties
Methodological problems
External factors and co-sleep
Individual differences
Operationalisation of sleep
Cultural traditions
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