Sleep inertia
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Sleep inertia is a physiological state characterised by a decline in motor dexterity and a subjective feeling of grogginess, immediately following an abrupt awakening from deep sleep. Typically, sleep inertia lasts between 1 and 30 minutes.
[edit]
Factors
NASA studies have shown that a variety of factors influence the severity and duration of sleep inertia. These include:
- Length of sleep. After roughly 30 minutes, the body enters into deep sleep. Waking from deep sleep induces more sleep inertia than otherwise.
- Time of sleep. Sleep inertia is thought to be related to the phase of the body's circadian rhythm. Waking during a trough in body temperature tends to produce more sleep inertia.
- Chemical influences. Studies have shown that drugs such as caffeine suppress the effect of sleep inertia, possibly by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain.
[edit]
Cause
The cause of sleep inertia is not clear. One theory is that it is caused by the build-up of adenosine in the brain during non-REM sleep. Adenosine then binds to receptors, which produce the feelings of tiredness.
[edit]
External links
- Abstract: Caffeine eliminates psychomotor vigilance deficits from sleep inertia (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11683484&dopt=Abstract)
- Flying Safely Article on Napping (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBT/is_10_58/ai_92949462)
- Patrick Sherry on Napping (http://www.du.edu/~psherry/fatigue/sleep.html#Napping)
