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4. Sleep feeds creative thinking. Dreams can inspire noteworthy artistic and scientific
achievements, such as the dreams that inspired novelist Stephanie Meyer to write
the first book in the Twilight series (CNN, 2009) and medical researcher Carl Alving
(2011) to invent the vaccine patch. More commonplace is the boost that a complete
night’s sleep gives to our thinking and learning. After working on a task, then sleep-
ing on it, people solve difficult problems more insightfully than do those who stay
awake (Barrett, 2011; Sio et al., 2013). They also are better at spotting connections
among novel pieces of information (Ellenbogen et al., 2007; Whitehurst et al., 2016).
To think smart and see connections, it often pays to ponder a problem just before bed
and then sleep on it.

5. Sleep supports growth. During slow-wave sleep, the pituitary gland releases human
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
growth hormone, which is necessary for muscle development.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images 6. Sleep conserves energy. By making us inactive during the night, when food gathering
and other activity would be inefficient, sleep preserves our energy for waking times.
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
A regular full night’s sleep can also “dramatically improve your athletic ability,” report
James Maas and Rebecca Robbins (2010). REM sleep and Stage 2 sleep — which occur

that build enduring memories, including the “muscle memories” learned while practicing
Ample sleep supports skill mostly in the final hours of a long night’s sleep — help strengthen the neural connections
learning and high performance tennis or shooting baskets. Sleep scientist Cheri Mah and her colleagues (2011) advise ath-
Figure skater Sarah Hughes was letes on how to build sleep into their training. Mah helped transform professional basketball
advised to cut her early-morning
practices as part of a recommended player Andre Igoudala from an afternoon-napping, late-night videogamer into someone
sleep regimen. This led to improved with healthy sleep habits (Gonzalez, 2018). The result? Igoudala played more minutes, shot
performances, better scores, and more effectively, and received the 2015 National Basketball Association Finals Most Valuable
finally a 2002 Olympic gold medal.
Player award. Given all the benefits of sleep, it’s no wonder that sleep loss hits us so hard.

®
AP Science Practice Check Your Understanding
Examine the Concept Apply the Concept
▶ ▶Explain how sleep aids in memory consolidation. ▶ ▶Compare and contrast the proposed functions of sleep.
▶ ▶Have you ever experienced enhanced creativity or problem-
solving abilities after getting a good night’s sleep? Explain.
Answers to the Examine the Concept questions can be found in Appendix C at the end of the book.

Module 1.5b REVIEW

1.5-3 What is sleep? • This circadian rhythm appears in our daily patterns of
body temperature, arousal, sleeping, and waking. Age and
• Sleep is the periodic, natural loss of normal consciousness — experiences can alter these patterns, resetting our biolog-
as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, ical clock.
general anesthesia, or hibernation.
1.5-5 What is the biological rhythm of our sleeping
1.5-4 How do our biological rhythms influence our and dreaming stages?
daily functioning?
• Younger adults cycle through four distinct sleep stages
• Our bodies have an internal biological clock, which is about every 90 minutes (the sleep cycle repeats more fre-
roughly synchronized with the 24-hour cycle of night quently for older adults):
and day.

100 Unit 1 Biological Bases of Behavior

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