Sleep is a fascinating subject. Like many issues in psychology, the full meaning, function and mechanism of sleep is still not completely known, representing one of the few mysteries remaining regarding the human body. Furthermore, it is unifying characteristic among all people, and can characterize a major opportunity to engineer an improved lifestyle method among societies. Several key issues regarding sleep are particularly interesting to me: the nature of REM sleep, rest and the sleep cycle; the concept of sleep engineering; and the purpose of dreaming.
Every night every human being (or at least most if you consider college students and hard workers) spends a portion of the night sleeping, resting, and recharging for the next day. Our society is obviously built around this assumption, and many people spend a full one-third of their day asleep. This is not a commonly thought about issue, as many people simply accept that they sleep for several hours at night and then wake up. Realistically it is much more complex than that. The stages of sleep and the unique nature and function of each of the individual stages present a much more complex phenomenon than simply closing your eyes and waking up rested. Understanding the interaction of the sleep cycle and rest, particularly the characteristics of REM sleep can give one insight into a frequent, constant, and necessary part of every individual’s life.
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"Sleep, Rest, and Dreaming".
Continuing with the concept of rest and sleep, the concept of sleep engineering and modified sleep schedules presents a very interesting possibility to my mind. While they are not necessarily compatible with most educational or vocational plans, studies show that it is very possible to design a sleep plan that includes less than 8 hours of sleep, while providing the same amount of rest-granting REM sleep. The possibilities for this type of sleep modification are obviously massive and present the opportunity to boost an individual’s productivity significantly. This has largely been neglected by most serious individuals studying sleep, and therefore is under-theorized.
Leaving the topic of rest, the concept of dreaming is equally interesting, mostly because of the complete lack of understanding. The simplest question about this phenomenon cannot be answered. We do not know why we dream. A variety of theories have been proposed, and sleep studies under MRIs and fMRIs have been conducted and some very tentative conclusions have reached the most basic levels of justification. Several of the theories are incredibly interesting. Personally, I enjoy the concept that dreaming is a virtual sandbox in which the brain can run through scenarios and possibilities without involving the somatic portions of the nervous system.
These examples given are only three of the most interesting aspects of sleep. The everyday, yet mysterious nature of it presents a challenging puzzle for the field of psychology and a variety of other associated disciplines. It poses a number of interesting theoretical questions that may elucidate the contents of the human mind, and simultaneously enables a psychologist to work on problems that are of interest to every person on the planet, and to create solutions that will benefit humanity as a whole.
