Long naps not necessary
January 29, 2013
NOT getting a full 8 hours of sleep
a night may not be that much of an
issue according to researchers at
the University of Sydney.
The comments are based on a
study which showed that sleep
duration naturally waxes and wanes
over a period of days regardless of
individual lifestyle, timing of sleep
or waking, and social and
environmental influences.
The study monitored a group of
healthy young males over 14 nights
using an actigraph designed to
measure sleep patterns.
The actigraph data showed
participants’ sleep duration
oscillated in a sine wave pattern.
The researchers noted clear
periodic patterns in the majority of
the participants, varying from
periods of between two and 18 days.
The cyclic pattern observed in the
research suggests that the sleep
balance mechanism operates on an
ongoing basis in daily life, with
changes in sleep duration
constantly accompanied by
compensatory adjustments.
“Sleep requirements vary in a
cyclical fashion and between
individuals,” said study head Dr
Chin Moi Chow.
“If you incur a sleep debt, your
body will signal a need to catch up
on extra sleep,” Chow added.
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