Sam's essay

Here it is Sam, hopefully I did not take away anything too important.

Sleep Portfolio: Intro Sleep is something very basic, simple and essential to our well-being. Sleep is one of the basic ingredients that make life possible. During sleep, the body makes all the repairs it needs and renews its systems. Sleep allows the human mind to remain sharp and the body to remain healthy and strong. Just like food and water, going without sleep for long periods of time can have dangerous implications and side effects. Yet for all its simplicity, one look below the surface shows that brain waves change during sleep making it a deep, complex process that has puzzled scholars and common-men alike for thousands of years. It is unique as it is the one moment that humans lose their own self-conscience. During sleep, brain wave levels begin to fluctuate and strange, unexplained things such as dreams begin to occur. Yet like all small pleasures, the magic and mystery, yet utter simplicity, goes largely under the radar, unnoticed. The point of my portfolio is to bring light to the mystery and magic of sleep. The craziness of dreams, the little anomalies that defy explanation, the safety and security of the night, and quite simply, the comfort of a soft pillow and warm covers; giving sleep the serenity and peacefulness that warms us all. I would like you to keep those elements in mind as you read my portfolio and reconsider your ideas about the simple, yet amply layered concept of sleep that unites us all. Sleep: Research Paper Sleep anomalies Dreams are and have always been something that has puzzled many a scholar and common-men alike for as long as humans have existed. But even more mysterious in nature are the phenomenon that dreams are associated with, that occur only occasionally during sleep. The most common of these sleep phenomena is lucid dreaming, where the dreamer becomes conscience during his or her dream. This usually happens when the sleeper realizes that they are dreaming and that their dream is only a product of their mental processes. During lucid dreams the dreamer can usually exert some control over their dream and project some of their thoughts in it. Unlike the other sleep processes; it is possible to induce lucid dreams through engaging in practices that make it easier to realize you are in a dream. For this reason, lucid dreams are sometimes used as a therapy technique for those who suffer from frequent nightmares. Not to be confused with nightmares, night terrors occur in stage 4 of the sleep cycle, during deeper non-REM sleep, when the person is not dreaming. Although there is no definite theory about why night terrors occur, one of them is that the change from non-REM sleep to REM sleep can occasionally cause a sudden jolt to the central nervous system, creating a night terror. Though more common in small children (perhaps because the nervous system has not developed fully), night terrors can occur within all ages of people. Having night terrors has also been known to be a hereditary trait, with 80% of Night Terror sufferers having a family member who has also experienced them before. When experiencing a night terror, the sleeper suddenly wakes in a panic, breathing rapidly and with a highly elevated pulse of 160-170 b/pm. Screaming. Large pupils, sweating and other symptoms have also been known to occur during night terrors. These bouts of extreme panic have been known to last for 5-15 minutes, sometimes longer. After which, the person simply calms down and falls back to sleep. Night terrors are also quite rare, only occurring in 3-6% of kids and just 1% of the total population. The intensity and length, and timing of a night terror are unique for everyone. Those who frequently experience night terrors report that they occur at roughly the same time every night, varying from each individual’s sleep cycle. Typically when awake, the person with a night terror cannot remember why he or she had the night terror, but simply recall an intense sensation of fear and distress with no images in their minds. Sleep paralysis is a rather scary sleep condition where, upon being abruptly waken up from REM sleep, one is paralyzed and rendered unable to move for a few minutes. During REM sleep, the body is naturally paralyzed and separated from the brain to prevent people from acting out their dreams (REM atonia). If a person is woken up before the REM atonia subsides and the connections between mind and body are reconnected, Sleep Paralysis occurs. Although Sleep Paralysis is not harmful, it can be very scary and confusing. Sleep Paralysis has been known to carry a hallucinatory element. The best way to explain this is that it is almost like the person is dreaming awake. People experiencing sleep paralysis often have a suffocating sensation in their chest, as if someone is sitting on them. Coupled with the hallucinations and paralysis, this sensation can cause extreme panic in the people that experience it. Sleep is something unexplained because the empty mind is something erratic and undisciplined. These processes above that seem to defy explanation leave only slight patterns to follow. Eventually, we will have enough knowledge of the human brain to help explain and use these odd patterns. Poem Carousel How is it That underneath the night sky The stars spinning gently overhead The gentle rustling of branches Beneath natures heartbeat One may not rest easy For fear of tomorrow