Sleep and the Brain:Recommendations for Institutions of Higher Education

Rosemary HilliardProfessor Quannah Parker-McGowanEDU6250 904155 August 2014

“Sleep is a required activity, not an option.” (National Institutes of Health, 2003)

Why sleep?

Sleep is essential.

• Promotes energy conservation, nervous system recuperation, & emotional regulation (Siegel, 2005)

• 20% adults habitual poor sleepers (Editor, 2000)

• 60% college students poor sleepers (Lund, Reider, Whiting, and Prichard, 2010)

“Sleep plays a significant role in brain development.” (BBC, n.d.)

The Power of Sleep

Restful sleep repairs the body and the mind.

• Restoration & recovery of bodily systems (Harvard Medical School, 2007)

• Energy conservation

• Memory consolidation

• Protection from predation

• Brain development

• Discharge of emotions

• (National Institutes of Health, 2003)

Physical Benefits of Sleep• Period of

restfulness in which the body may repair itself. (National Institutes of Health, 2012)

• Brain development & plasticity. (Harvard Medical School, 2007)

• Maintenance of the immune system. (Egydio, Pieres, Tufik, and Andersen, 2012)

Cognitive Benefits of Sleep

• Procedural memory formation(Gals, Plihal, Wagner, and Born, 2000)

• Learning new tasks. (Stickgold, James, and Hobson, 2000)

• “Deep sleep…primes our brains to function at a higher level…” (Randall, 2012)

Sleep deprivation is associated with “reduced levels of performance, daytime sleepiness, and [other] adverse health effects.” (Cheatham, n.d.)

Negative Impact of Sleep Deprivation

Effects of Sleep Deprivation• Problems with learning, focusing, reaction, making

decisions, solving problems, memory, controlling emotions, and coping with change. (National Institutes of Health, 2012)

• Decreased concentration & attention span. (BBC, n.d.)

• Death/maiming due to automobile & industrial accidents. (BBC, n.d.)

• Development of neurodegenerative disease. (Konnikova, 2014)

Symptoms of sleep deprivation may mimic schizophrenia.

• Hallucinations• Thought disorder• Psychosis • Other negative

symptoms• (Petrovsky, Ettinger, Hill, Frenzel,

Meyhofer, and Wagner, Backhaus, and Kumari, 2014)

Suffers may not realize they are sleep deprived & experiencing negative symptoms. (National Institutes of Health, 2012)

“Sleep deficiency can cause problems with learning…” (National Institutes of Health, 2012)

Sleep and the College Learner

Why focus on sleep deprivation in college?• Increased stress, pressure to succeed, & social

demands contribute to disordered sleeping habits amongst college students. (Cheatham, n.d.)

• Sleep deprivation in college may lead to stress, academic issues, & chemical dependence to regular sleep/wake cycle. (Miller, Shattuck, Matsangas, and Dyche, 2008; Lund et al, 2010)

Characteristics of college sleepers.

• Generally require greater than 8 hours of sleep per day. (Miller, et al, 2008)

• Increased variability in sleeping schedule (bedtime each night shifts) (Miller et al, 2008)

• Students may be classified as “morning” people or “night” people. (Azevado, Sousa, Paul, MacLeish, Mondejar, Sarabia, Rol, and Madrid, 2008)

“…young adults show a delay in sleep schedules, irregular sleep patterns, and sleep loss associated with school and university schedules.” (Azevado, et al, 2008)

Recommendations for Higher Education

Block scheduling of courses.

• Morning / Evening course blocks that allow students to attend based on biological preferences.

• Duplicate sections that include early and late start times.

Inclusion of breaks between classes.

• Scheduling that allows for daytime rest/nap breaks.

• May help alleviate daytime sleepiness.

• Sleeping for as little as 24 min. at a time increases cognitive performance. (Randall, 2012)

Sleep education & outreach initiatives.

• Educate students on importance of sleep as a study aid.

• Seminars, workshops, printed materials.

• Involve professors as “frontline” defense against sleep deprivation.

Conclusion• Sleep is vital for maintenance of balanced

cognitive & physical health.• Sleep has a large impact on learning & brain

development.• College students are a risk of developing poor

sleeping habits based on university environment. • Sensitivity to unique characteristics of college

sleepers, thoughtful course scheduling, & proactive outreach may help to mitigate effects of sleep deprivation amongst university students.

Thank you!

References• Azevado, C.V.M.; Sousa, I.; Paul, K.; MacLeish, M.Y.; Mondejar, T.; Sarabia, J.A.; Rol, M.A.; Madrid, J.A. (2008).

Teaching chronobiology and sleep habits in school and university. Mind, Brain, and Education, 2(1), p. 34-47.• BBC. (n.d.) The science of sleep. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/whatissleep.shtml• Cheatham, S. (n.d.) The relationship between quality of sleep and stress in college students. Baylor University. Retrieved from

http://www.academia.edu/5131613/The_Relationship_Between_Quality_of_Sleep_and_Stress_in_College_Students• Editor. (2000). Why do we sleep? Nature Neuroscience, 3, p. 1225.• Egydio, F.; Pieres, G.N.; Tufik, S.; Andersen, M.L. (2012). Wound-healing and benzodiazepines: Does sleep play a role in

this relationship? Clinics, 67(7), p. 827-830.• Gals, S.; Plihal, W.; Wagner, U.; Born, J. (2000). Early sleep triggers memory for early visual discrimination skills. Nature

Neuroscience, 3, p. 1335-1339.• Harvard Medical School. (2007). Why do we sleep, anyway? Retrieved from

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/why-do-we-sleep• Konnikova, M. (2014). Goodnight. Sleep clean. The New York Times. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/opinions/sunday/goodnight-sleep-clean.html• National Institutes of Health. (2003). Information about sleep. Retrieved from http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/

nih3/sleep/guide/info-sleep.htm • Lund, H.G.; Reider, B.D.; Whiting, AB.; Prichard, J.R. (2010). Sleep patterns and predictors of disturbed sleep in a large

population of college students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46(2), p. 124-132. • Miller, N.L.; Shattuck, L.G.; Matsangas, P.; Dyche, J. (2008). Sleep and academic performance in U.S. military training and

education programs. Mind, Brain, and Education, 2(1), p. 29-33.• National Institutes of Health. (2012). Why is sleep so important?

Retrieved from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/why.html

• Petrovsky, N.; Ettinger, U.; Hill, A.; Frenzel, L.; Meyhofer, I.; Wagner, M. Backhaus, J.; Kumari, V. (2014). Sleep deprivation disrupts prepulse inhibition and induces psychosis-like symptoms in healthy humans. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34(27), p. 9134-9140.

• Randall, D.K. (2012). Rethinking sleep. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/opinion/sunday/rethinking-sleep.html?smid=pl.share

• Siegel, J.M. (2005). Clues to the functions of mammalian sleep. Nature, 437, p.1264-1271.• Stickgold, R.; James, L.; Hobson, A. (2000). Visual discrimination learning requires sleep after training. Nature Neuroscience,

3, p. 1237-1238.