These scientists all study sleep.
Instead of laboratories they have bedrooms full of high-technology equipment. These machines measure a person’s brain activity and body movement during sleep. Scientists use these measurements to analyse people’s sleeping patterns. They hope to discover what sleep is for and what happens to us when we don’t sleep enough.
We already know that sleep deprivation affects the part of the brain that controls our behaviour, our personality, and our emotions so when we don’t get enough sleep all of these things are affected.
But why are we so sleep deprived? Researchers here say that we are sleeping enough hours but that our sleep patterns are more irregular. The average adult sleeps for about seven and a quarter hours per night, this is almost exactly the same amount of sleep our ancestors used to get, over a hundred years ago. The difference is they slept for just over seven hours every night but we don’t.
Our sleeping patters have changed to fit modern life. Today, most people lead busy lives and we often sleep less during the week. Sometimes we only sleep for five or six hours because we stay up late to work or spend time with friends. Then at the weekend people spend longer in bed and can sleep for ten hours. Perhaps this irregularity in sleeping patterns is something our brains find difficult to get used and this in turn affects our health and general well-being. That’s why sleep clinics like this one are trying to learn more; so we can all sleep a little easier.