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Module 1.5c

Maquet, 2001). So precise were these activity patterns that scientists could tell where in the
maze the rat would be if awake. To sleep, perchance to remember.
This is important news for students, many of whom are sleep deprived on weekdays
and binge sleep on the weekend (Stickgold, 2000). High school students with high grades
slept about 25 minutes longer each night than their lower-achieving classmates (Wolfson &
Carskadon, 1998; see Figure 1.5-12). Sacrificing sleep time to study actually worsens aca-
demic performance, by making it harder the next day to understand class material or do well
on a test (Gillen-O’Neel et al., 2013).

Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
Figure 1.5-12
A sleeping brain is a
working brain

Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.

(a) Learning. (b) Sleep consolidates our (c) Learning is retained.
learning into long-term
memory.

To develop and preserve neural pathways. Perhaps dreams, or the brain activity associ-
ated with REM sleep, serve a physiological function, providing the sleeping brain with periodic
stimulation. This theory makes developmental sense. As you will see in Module 3.2, stimulating
experiences preserve and expand the brain’s neural pathways. Infants, whose neural networks
are developing quickly, spend much of their abundant sleep time in REM sleep (Figure 1.5-13).

24
Average Marked drop in
daily sleep 16 REM sleep during infancy
(hours)
14
Waking
12
REM sleep
10 8
swissmacky/Shutterstock 6 4

2 NREM sleep
0
1–15 3–5 6–23 2 3–4 5–13 14–18 19–30 31–45 90
days mos. mos. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs.
Age

Figure 1.5-13
Sleep across the lifespan
As we age, our sleep patterns change. During infancy and our first 2 years, we spend progressively less time in REM sleep. During our first 20 years,
we spend progressively less time asleep. (Data from Snyder & Scott, 1972.)

Sleep: Sleep Loss, Sleep Disorders, and Dreams Module 1.5c 111

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