Lifespan and sleep

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Lifespan and sleep

Sleep differs throughout different stages of life. Babies sleep a lot more than children; they also have very short sleep cycles, meaning that they only sleep for about an hour each time. Infants have more sleep than babies, they have similar sleep patterns to adults, but slightly more immature versions, and with around half of an infant’s sleep is REM sleep. It has been suggested that the amount of REM is related to the immaturity of the brain. This is supported by the fact that premature babies have around 90% REM sleep, which is 40% more than other babies. This shows that there may be a correlation between the immaturity of the brain and REM sleep.

By the age of 5 it is known that children have already developed EEG patterns similar to adults. However they sleep more than most adults, around 10 hours and day, they also have more REM sleep (around 30%).  It is also common that a child will suffer from sleep disorders such as Sleep walking.

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Although childhood sees a decrease in the amount of sleep, during adolescence sleep with increase slightly, to 10-12 hours. Circadian rhythms also change. Teenagers suffer from phase delay, this means that they find it hard to get to sleep at night and find it hard to wake up in a morning. Adolescent males may also suffer from orgasms and ejaculation during REM sleep. The change in sleep in teenagers may be due to hormone release. These hormones are release at night which would explain why teenagers have trouble getting to sleep at night. Some people have suggested that schools should ...

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