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Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked ...
Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency [2] or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either chronic or acute and may vary widely in severity.
A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of an individual's sleep patterns. Some sleep disorders are severe enough to interfere with normal physical, mental, social and emotional functioning. Sleep disorders are frequent and can have serious consequences on patients' health and quality of life. [1]
Polyphasic sleep is the practice of sleeping during multiple periods over the course of 24 hours, in contrast to monophasic sleep, which is one period of sleep within 24 hours. Biphasic (or diphasic , bifurcated , or bimodal ) sleep refers to two periods, while polyphasic usually means more than two. [ 1 ]
In individuals deprived of sleep, somnolence may spontaneously dissipate for short periods of time; this phenomenon is the second wind, and results from the normal cycling of the circadian rhythm interfering with the processes the body carries out to prepare itself to rest. The word "somnolence" is derived from the Latin "somnus" meaning "sleep".
Sleep inertia is a physiological state of impaired cognitive and sensory-motor performance that is present immediately after awakening. It persists during the transition of sleep to wakefulness, where an individual will experience feelings of drowsiness, disorientation and a decline in motor dexterity.
Sleep-talking can also be caused by depression, sleep deprivation, day-time drowsiness, alcohol, and fever. It often occurs in association with other sleep disorders such as confusional arousals, sleep apnea, and REM sleep behavior disorder. In rare cases, adult-onset sleep-talking is linked with a psychiatric disorder or nocturnal seizure. [2]
The information includes sleep onset time, sleep latency, number of awakenings in a night, time in bed, daytime napping, sleep quality assessment, use of hypnotic agents, use of alcohol and cigarettes, and unusual events which may influence a person's sleep. Such a log is usually made for one or two weeks before visiting a somnologist.