Theories of Sleep

[Brendon Fulton]

Think about the different teories of sleep that we discussed. By now you should have done some external reading and hopefully you will have formed an opinion of which theory/ies make sense to you.

Discuss which theory/ies you consider to be more valid and tell us why - remember to consider sleep changes through the ages and extraneous variables...

[ryan]

i think that the memory proccessing theory is the most valid to the changes in sleep or the preservation theory as it relates to all the theories. i think the memory processing theory is most relevant because the brain is constantly taking in information throughout the day and the only time it would get to store the information would be when the body is at rest i think that the most invalid is the restoration theory. this is because an a middle agd adult or teenager would consume the most energy due to sport and work therfore more sleep would be required to replenish the energy.

[Brendon Fulton]

Good start to the discussion Ryan.

Can you provide us with any emperical evidence for the Memory Processing theory? Have there been any studies on this and what were the findings?

[juppg001]

I feel that the theory most relevant is the ontogentic hypothosis of sleep . I do feel that this theory is stronger toward new born children. The reason for this is that we learnt that at this age the infant sleeps from 16-18 hours per day. This fact links with the memory proccessing theory in a way because the new born has not ever seen earth and other humans because it have been situated in the womb of it's mother so it is taking in new things and could indeed be saining on the newborn. An example to back this up would be driving for a long distance when you get home or to your destination you would find that you are rather tied from concentrating for a long time. This is the same for a new born that they are concentrating and taking everything in. Now the reason that I chose the the ontogenetic hypothosis of sleep is that even though the memory proccessing theory shows that the information is being store in the newborns brain whilst he or she sleeps i believe it is not as strong theory because found out that childrens long term memory does not kick in until they are three years old so the memory processing model is doing a full job in my opinion where as the ontogenetic hypothosis of sleep does due to it being a natuaral fuction for us as humans as we were born to sleep so that is my theory that the ontogenetic hypothosis of sleep is more relevant to new borns.

[dthorn]

I think that the most valid theory of sleep would be the Memory Proccessing theory, I used to think it was the Restorative theory but changed my mind when learning the fact that newborn babies sleep 16-18 hours per day which contradicts the theory entirly when they havent done any exercise or lost any energy to restore.
The reason I believe the Memory Processing theory is because then the fact that newborn babies sleep so much aswell as sleep less as they grow older would make sense.
this is because the newborns are seeing everything for the first time, taking in a lot of brand new information which would explain the need to sleep more but however, doesnt explain why they sleep so much while inside the womb, though they havent gained the ability to open their eyes at this stage, their experiences would be only physical eg. learning to move your hand etc which would also need the newly developed brain to process.
I think the reason older adults sleep less is not because they arent experiencing anything new but possibly because as they're bodies get weaker, the amount of melatonine they recieve lessens therefore making it harder to sleep.
Also I thought that the phrase to 'sleep on it' may be in reference to the Memory Processing theory.

[Mr Bausor]

A good start to the discussion here. To follow on from the memory and its role in sleep it is worth looking into the role of the hippocampus in memory, particularly what happens in the hippocampus during sleeping.

Can you find any studies that have looked at the effect of sleep deprivation on ability to perform cognitive tasks? What is interesting about the findings?

[Brendon Fulton]

Further to Mr. Bausor's question:

Here is a link to an interesting study in this regard -

www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/041104learningsleep.html

[danieljacobs]

i agree with ryan, i believe the memory processing theory displays a very logical way of looking at sleep. though i believe it is mainly used to retrace your memory and somewhat file any "rogue" memories away in a secure place. this seems logical because when asleep your brain becomes most active this could be because as just said it retraces the days steps and saves important events that have happened.

the most invalid theory to me is the a theory that says the boby needs to hibernate when temperatures decrease. this is because many animals hibernate through the hole of winter and cold seasons though we carry out everyday events every day of the year. also if so why do we sleep i the summer when temperatures increase??