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Polyphasic sleeping

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Sleep Types

An example of polyphasic sleep is found in patients with irregular sleep-wake syndrome, a circadian rhythm sleep disorder which usually is caused by neurological retardation, head injury or dementia. Two much more common examples are, sleep of human infants as well as many other animals. Elderly humans often have disturbed sleep, including polyphasic sleep.

In their 2006 paper "The Nature of Spontaneous Sleep Across Adulthood", Campbell and Murphy studied sleep duration as well as sleep quality in young, middle-aged, and older adults. They found that, in free-running conditions, the average duration of major nighttime sleep was significantly longer in young adults than in the other groups. The paper states further:

"Whether such patterns are simply a response to the relatively static experimental conditions, or whether they more accurately reflect the natural organization of the human sleep/wake system, compared with that which is exhibited in daily life, is open to debate. However, the comparative literature strongly suggests that shorter, polyphasically-placed sleep is the rule, rather than the exception, across the entire animal kingdom (Campbell and Tobler, 1984; Tobler, 1989). There is little reason to believe that the human sleep/wake system would evolve in a fundamentally different manner. That people often do not exhibit such sleep organization in daily life merely suggests that humans have the capacity (often with the aid of stimulants such as caffeine or increased physical activity) to overcome the propensity for sleep when it is desirable, or is required, to do so."

My Article Contribution:

"Humans are naturally polyphasic sleepers. Depending on the culture, humans will either have segmented night sleep, or nap throughout the day." Someone who sleeps for a block of eight hours per day/night will usually spend 65% or more of that time in light sleep. During light sleep, it is much easier to be woken up from external stimuli than if you were in REM sleep. Everything from noise and temperature, to touch and movement can wake us up, but during light sleep, these factors can wake us up much easier and with much less effort. Polyphasic sleeping puts a great emphasis on getting the best quality sleep that you can possibly get in the shortest amount of time (usually 20 minute naps). This means that when your body decides it is time for a nap, you need to fall asleep right after your head hits the pillow so you take full advantage of the allotted time. You are going to want to enter REM sleep as soon as you possibly can. The importance of this is that REM sleep is the restorative part of our sleep cycle. Many associate REM sleep with dreaming, as most dreaming takes place within the REM cycle.

Benefits of a polyphasic sleep schedule

Enhanced brain activity, increased time management, and an overall better feeling of happiness are just some of the benefits that a polyphasic sleep schedule can offer.

Da Vinci Vitruvian Man

Many great minds including: Nikola Tesla, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Salvador Dali have adopted this kind of sleep schedule. One of the most known polyphasic sleepers, Da Vinci, slept for an average of 1.5 to 2 hours per day, taking 10 minute naps every two hours. These short naps allowed Da Vinci to design various flying machines, create multiple different weapons of war and even paint the "Mona Lisa."