The Insomnia Blog - Sleep Doctor Michael Breus, PhD

Do Your Adolescent Children Keep Odd Sleep Hours?

Puberty brings a ton of changes to a young person’s life, but now we have evidence that the changes children experience in their sleep between the ages of 11 and 12 can happen sooner than the usual physical changes in adolescence.  In a study released the first week of December in the journal Sleep, researchers reported that:

• As they approach puberty, kids’ ability to fall asleep was delayed by 50 minutes, and total sleep times were reduced by 37 minutes.
• Girls slept better than boys.
• Aside from the biological changes happening that can affect sleep, psychological issues related to school demands, social activities, and technological distractions can lead to the development of bad sleep habits.

Sounds Can Change—and Boost—Your Memories

Now this is pretty cool. New research just came out showing that we can hear sounds during deep sleep, and that those sounds can influence how we consolidate our memories.

One of the chief benefits of deep sleep is its effect on our minds, helping us to organize our memories and what went on during the day, refresh our brains, and prepare for another day of learning new things.

During a study at Northwestern University, researchers introduced sounds to volunteer nappers, and then determined afterward how those sounds affected their memories. The participants weren’t aware of these sounds as they slept, but it was clear from the test results that the sounds, which ranged from a teakettle whistle to a cat’s meow, were indeed “heard” by the brain and had an impact on how those people organized their memories.

The actual details to how they designed the test are a bit complex, but the scientists were able to measure the ability of certain sounds to literally direct and even enhance a person’s memories.

Shift Worker Alert: Curb the Caffeine

Coffee is most everyone’s number one choice for a pick-up-me. Have to work late? Coffee. Couldn’t get a full night’s sleep? Coffee. Need a jolt of energy to stay focused and alert? Coffee.

You can count on coffee, or really anything with caffeine in it, to get you through it. But watch out if you’re among those who work at night and sleep during the day: there’s new evidence that coffee can really tie a knot in your attempts to get some sleep when you need it most.

Beauty Rest Is Real

Sleeping Beauty may have had the ultimate secret to looking great and maintaining that soft, dewy skin of a twentysomething. This week, when the Los Angeles Times reported on the “best skincare treatment,” readers might have been surprised to learn that it wasn’t a new cosmeceutical or $500-per-ounce skin cream. It doesn’t get any cheaper or more universally accessible than this: sleep.

The Lark vs. The Owl: Don’t Mess with Mother Nature

Most of us know whether we’re a lark who likes to beat the sunrise, or an owl who prefers to work by moonlight. Larks function best in the morning and tire through the day, whereas owls feel sharper as the day goes on and reach their optimum level at around 9 o’clock at night.

Owls tend to envy larks, though, especially when they hear about their counterparts who can rise before the sun and get half a day’s work done before much of the world eats breakfast.  So should an owl try to turn into a lark?

Not Guilty by Reason of Sleep

Let’s be thankful that the sleep disorder suffered by a British man who unwittingly killed his wife in his sleep is extremely rare.

When the Associated Press reported on an unusual murder case out of England, it soon got lots of attention and raised more than a few intrigued eyebrows. Brian Thomas, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, was accused of killing his wife of nearly 40 years. He’d strangled her during a nightmare about fighting off an intruder. Prosecutors withdrew the case after experts explained that he wasn’t insane at all. Rather, he suffered from a rare, long-term sleep disorder that put him in a state of “automatism,” in which his mind had no control over his body. So he strangled her without knowing it.