SLEEP & DREAMS: LECTURE 2

PART 1: PHYLOGENY OF SLEEP

Mo nda y, Jan ua ry 1 6, 20 17
HIBERNATION: NOT SLE EP
Seasonal, not circadian(does not follow the 24-hour circadian clock)
Can last days, weeks, months(e.g. bears dont just sleep non-stop throughout winter, they come out of hibernation several
times, but they may not leave the den)
Daily torpor (brief periods of hibernation), similar mechanisms
Physiologically distinct from sleep:
1. Reduced heart rate*
2. Reduced blood flow
3. Reduced metabolism
4. Greatly reduced body temperature
*In regular sleep, heart rate can just become more variable
Singular & different function:
Energy conservation

TYPES OF SLEEPERS
1) Hea vy s lee pe rs
Opossum 18 hours of sleep(7 hours of REM sleep alone!)
Armadillos 20 hours of sleep (live in burrows)
Koalas 15 hours of sleep
Little brown bat approx. 20+ hours
Little pocket mouse approx. 20+ hours
These smallest animals seem to sleep most
Common features of heavy sleepers: live in caves, trees, or burrows areas that are relatively safe and protected from predators (sleep
more because they can)

2) L ig ht s leep er s
Horses
just 2 hours of non-REM
Can sleep standing up
<1hr REM sleep every few days: need to lie down for this
Sharks
Nurse sharks: rest on sea bottom and have adapted gills (dont have to keep swimming)
Most other sharks have to keep swimming in order to breathe
Great white sharks: at night, swim while hugging the shoreline, staying close to the bottom and facing into the current
Jaws gape open and seems to be napping, water flows through the gills, going with the current
Can slow down and save energy for hunting during the day

S tra nge bed fe l lo ws

How do dolphins sleep?
One brain hemisphere at a time
Can swim & surface to breathe
Keep contralateral eye open
Graphs: pink hemisphere is awake, and blue is asleep
Did dinosaurs sleep?
No fossilized organs of sleep (the brain)
Similar gross neuroanatomy to
descendants such as birds

EVOLUTION OF SLEEP
Stem amniote: slug-like creature from the sea
Marsupials: pouches
Placentals: humans
Squamates: repitles that dont lay eggs
Testudines: turtles
Shows origins of REM sleep
 Mammals and birds have both REM + nonREM sleep
Assumption: different animals, e.g. reptiles may have different needs from mammals when it comes to sleep
Evolutionary factors may provide insight into the functions of sleep

THE COMPARATIVE APPR OACH:

We ig ht v s. A moun t o f s l eep
Carnivores: no significant correlation
Herbivores: Animals that weigh more tend to have less sleep
Omnivores: no significant correlation
On average, animals who weigh more tend to have less sleep
Predatory relationships partially explain amount of sleep that animals need

Diagram
Size and amount of folding in the cortex (amount of encephalon)
Elephants have a very folded brain (more encephalization) less sleep
Opossum: very smooth brain (less folding, less developed) more sleep

Comp ar i ng p hy lo gene ti c o rde r and s l eep

Same phylogenetic order, different sleep times
o Golden ground squirrel has ~3 times more sleep than Degu
o Cat has much more sleep than Genet
o Owl monkey has much more total sleep than a human (but same amount of REM sleep)
Different phylogenetic order, similar sleep times
o Guinea pig and baboon
o Goat and eastern tree hyrax
o Eastern American mole and human
Therefore not much correlation

NR EM vs . R EM
Sleep & memory
Do species with greater cognitive abilities sleep more? seems to work well, but is hard to observe
Species with more developed brains, more REM (e.g. humans, elephants)
More support for this hypothesis than the others
Sleep & synaptic plasticity
More altricial species, more REM vs. precocial species
Altricial (those who look after their young more), Precocial: kick out the babies soon after theyre born
Plasticity: neural growth and development
Sleep & energy conservation (this theory doesnt seem to be well supported)
Non-REM for reduced energy expenditure because of metabolic rate
No evidence to support when body mass controlled
Energy expenditure in the brain in non-REM is higher
Sleep & immune function
Longer sleepers, better immune defenses
Studies that sleep-deprived rats for months: rats died from immune dysfunction no immune defenses
Longer sleepers may have survived longer and passed on their genes (evolution)
Sleep & predation
But... sleep makes you more vulnerable!
Works in some cases such as the armadillo (sleeping in a burrow)
This argument doesnt hold up well either

MAMMALS
Most-studied animal
ALL mammals experience both non-REM & REM sleep
Although... possibly not cetaceans (dolphins, whales)
They do have motionless periods with twitching, which suggests they in fact have limited REM, and it is not known if they have
REM in utero
REM sleep cant happen hemispherically (dolphins): both hemispheres must be asleep, so dolphins seem to have very little REM
sleep since they need to be able to surface and breathe (possible during NREM)
Mammals tend to have larger brains compared to their body size
Relative proportion of REM vs. non-REM varies enormously by species
 General characteristics very similar within species
Echidna: thought to not have REM sleep
Echidna: discovered to have very little REM sleep
Egg-laying (monotremes) mammals:
Originally thought not to have REM
Recent studies suggest otherwise
E.g. Platypus
Graphs:
Rodents: rat has more REM sleep than rabbits (which have almost none)
Cats and foxes: foxes spend much more time awake
Looking at proportions of awake time, REM, and non-REM sleep a lot of variation even
between similar animals

BIRDS
Only non-mammals to have both REM & non-REM
One hemisphere at a time
even in flight! (e.g. during migration)
Muscle atonia in REM (eyes, leg, neck)
REM & SWS is homeostatically regulated as in mammals
i.e., is increased following sleep deprivation
biological drive to get these stages of sleep
Involved in memory processing as in mammals
Song birds have more REM
Increased brain activity following new song learning
Duck: turns head around during REM sleep so the head doesnt fall forward (complete paralysis of muscles)
Flamingo: sleeping with one leg up during NREM sleep (contralateral hemisphere is asleep), during REM sleep they also turn their heads
around and the standing leg locks

REPTILES, AMPHIBIANS , AND FISH

Reptile EEG differs from mammals and birds
Sleep behaviour accompanied by large spikes in EEG
Arousal threshold higher during spikes (hard to wake them up)
Spikes increase after sleep deprivation
Spikes originate in hippocampus and propagate to cortex
Lack slow waves: consistent with no cortical layer II & III(layer of neocortex that generates slow waves)
No conclusive evidence of REM sleep
All amphibians sleep evidence limited to frogs & toads
All known species of fish sleep very limited evidence

INVERTEBRATES
Bees (and all insects) sleep, but it is difficult to measure
Measured by immobility (sleep at night)
Optomotor Neurons: control the movement of their eyes less active during
sleep
Antennae (see graph): less mobility when sleeping point downwards rather
than pointing up
Recovery: sleep-deprived bees have more antennal immobility
Baseline: before sleep-deprivation
Torpor: insects enter a passive state
Similar to hibernation, but as intense and lasting
only part of the day Fruit fly sleep: can study genetics of sleep
Drosophila activity monitor (DAM) system: loaded into
individual tubes
o Shine a little red light (infra-red beam) into the tube
o When fly flies from one side of tube to the other,
you know its awake
Some fruit flies are big sleepers and others are small
sleepers can separate them into these groups and breed
them to study genetics of sleep
Control: normal fruit flies
Sleepless: mutant fruit flies
 PART 2: ONTOGENY OF SLEEP
Ne wbo rns
3 types of sleep:
Quiet sleep (QS, like SWS)
Active sleep (AS, like REM)
Intermediate sleep (IS)
QS & AS alternate in a 50-60 min cycle (not 90 mins)
o not entrained to a normal circadian cycle which cycles every 90 mins
2 types of wake (like rodents!)
Quiet wake
Active wake
Sleep makes up 16-18 hours of the 24 hr day
The sleep-wake cycle is about 3-4 hours (not ~24 hours)
Coincides with normal feeding times

Tod dl ers
Active sleep (AS) becomes REMS after about 12 weeks
o More REM sleep for brain development
Total sleep time drops to 14-15 hours by 16 weeks and 10-12 hours between ages 3-5
Within 10 min, fall in N3 for an hour or so (SWS very deep sleep, and fall into it very quickly)
Naps disappear around 3 years (to match 24-hour clock, more adult-like pattern)
By age 10, sleep is similar to adult sleep but longer (10 hrs)

Ado l esc ents

Teens need 8.5 9.25 hours
most get only 6 to 7 hours per night! (chronic sleep debt)
Important for this period of increased brain development (especially frontal cortex)
Factors leading to chronic sleep debt: early school start times, homework, etc.
Cant make up lost sleep
Things are made worse by going to bed and waking late
o Easier to stay up late than to go to sleep early
Serious challenge for teens:
They need more sleep than they get
They want to stay up late to do more
Late bedtime & then have great difficulty waking up
Oversleep on weekends = phase advance(similar to jet lag, leads to staying up later)
Early start times: result in
Absenteeism
Poor cognitive performance
Poor grades and even dropout
Cell phones emit blue light and sends brains signals that its time to wake up (bad to use cell phones before bed)

Less SWS (than children) but with a lot of delta waves

Some difficulties falling asleep
Reappearance of naps (re; older children stop napping)
Cycles are 90 to 110 minutes in length (about adult)
A recent study shows a relationship between short sleep and depression & suicidal ideation in teens
Early parental set bedtimes and could therefore be protective against these problems by lengthening sleep duration
There has been research on depression in mothers while theyre pregnant
o When baby is born, particularly in the winter, mothers dont spend as much time outdoors, and babies are not being exposed to
daylight as much, and this disordered sleep rhythm early in life is a risk factor for depression later in life
Adu lt s
Cycle of 90 110 minutes
o For memory consolidation
Light sleep: on average 55%
SWS: on average 20%
o Physical restoration, growth hormones
REMS: on average 25%
 Most people sleep an 8 hour night between 11pm-7am
This is just an average, sleep need varies
Some are short sleepers, some are long sleepers

S eni or s
Sleep becomes fragmented: microarousals, lighter sleep, wake up a lot
For 50% of seniors, naps tend to reappear (to catch up, make up for difficulty sleeping at night)
o Suggests that sleep needs dont necessarily change, just a shift in when you get your sleep, mechanisms that keep you asleep
may be breaking down
Longer sleep onset latencies (SOL) are observed: time it takes to fall asleep gets longer
Nocturnal awakenings are more frequent and longer (worrying about sleep can cause you to sleep less)
Mild reduced total sleep time across the 24-hour cycle
Shorter first SWS-REM cycle
Sleep efficiency goes from 96% down to the low 80s
o Sleep efficiency = amount of time sleeping / total time in bed
Light sleep:
Increased
Reduction and degradation of sleep spindles (which is what usually makes light sleep useful, so less benefits for memory)
Diagram: Blue means few, red means more
Older adults have fewer fast frequency spindles, which are associated to memory
SWS Drastic reduction (next slide)
REM Disorganization and some reduction of REM activity

Delta activity
o 15 year old male: about 100-150 microvolts (very big for an EEG)
o Fewer spikes and smaller amplitude in seniors

Impact of retirement?
o There is strong evidence for a substantial and sustained decrease in sleep disturbances
following retirement. Possibly linked to stress going down.

Red is awake
White = asleep
Newborn: Polyphasic
Child: sleep becomes consolidated, with a nap mid afternoon
Adult: no more nap (usually)
Senior: wake up early, maybe have breakfast, take a morning nap, and
may take another nap mid afternoon

Body temperature
Night: body temperature goes down before you sleep
Mid afternoon (1pm): body temperature decreases slightly, when naps
usually start
Graph: Shows ranges of recommended sleep Number and Timing of Sleep in 24 hours
May be appropriate: depends on the individual Black: sleep
Amount of recommended sleep decreases over time (becomes more White: awake
stable from around 18 onwards) Newborn: many naps
Amount of sleep at night decreases with age

Total sleep time per night

Time spent in N1 Time spent in N2

A lot of NREM 1 is not good (light sleep) Drops around teens and early adulthood
This increase over time is considered big because we start Getting older: waking up more leads to being in N2 more (since
with so little its the gateway to other stages of sleep more transitions)
Not homeostatically driven

Time spent in (formerly) stage 3 Time spent in (formerly) stage 4

Increase then reduction over the life span (esp. for men) Decreases over life span (esp. in men)
May increase near end of life for women (maybe menopause?) Almost none for men over 75
Less physical restoration
Involved with growth hormone
Some gender differences in sleep but mostly similar
Men tend to have less delta activity (especially with alcohol consumption)
Time spent in REMS Time spent awake at night
Decrease overall (but not a big decrease other studies show less) Increase over lifespan
Important for cognition Up until your 30s you spend almost no time awake
People who are more mentally active maintain REMS really well (e.g. overnight
playing Sudoku)

Number of nocturnal awakenings Sleep efficiency

Increase over lifespan Decrease over lifespan
Whats driving decrease in amount of sleep is not one big long Time spent sleeping / Total time in bed
awakening, but the number of nocturnal awakenings

Hy pno gr am s
Childhood: deep cycles (lots of long, uninterrupted SWS: NREM 3-4)
o Even a long NREM 3 sleep period in the morning
Old age: much more time in stage 1 and 2 sleep

On toge nes is of sl eep

From fragmentation to consolidation to fragmentation again
Reduction in TST (Total Sleep Time)
Light sleep: progressive increase
SWS: increase then reduction then disappearance
REMS: slight reduction, but eventually disorganized

SLEEP: THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH?

Healthy diet
Exercising throughout your lifespan: pushes drive for SWS
Proper sleep hygiene
o Stick to a sleep schedule, even on weekends
o Practice a relaxing bedtime ritual
o Exercise daily
o Ensure ideal bedroom temperature (cool), sound, light
o Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows
o Reduce alcohol and caffeine intake
o Turn off electronics before bed
Can slow down and in some cases reverse the negative symptoms of aging in sleep