Page THE HALTON HILLS HOMES YLE Saturday September 19M REM sleep very important to peoples learning process By LEAH WINTER Going to sleep later than usual is just as bad as not going to sleep at all if you re trying to learn and app ly complex new information say Trent University researchers Psychologist Carlyle Smith and his colleagues have found that peo ple who lose rapid eye movement REM sleep cannot apply complex new information as well as those who get all their REM sleep They also found that learning is impaired if REM sleep is lost at certain critical times for up to a week after wards The REM phase the period of sleep during which most dreaming occurs is characterized by quicken eye movements and changes in the sleeper s blood pressure respiration and pulse rate REM periods alternate with non REM periods in approximately cycles that recur about five times during a regular night sleep Smith says the first REM phase is very deep and long it s pro the time during which the body recoers its fatigue and the brain recharges This is followed by a REM period of to ill minutes As sleep continues the REM periods get longer During the final ccle the REM period lasts about 50 minutes In a normal nights sleep the total REM time is 90 to 120 minutes Smith s studies initially looked at the influence of REM sleep on the teaming of two different tasks The first was a simple word memorization task The second more complex task was to learn and apply rules to complete and solve a problem Smith taught the two tasks to college students then divided the students into four groups That night one group slept all night disturbed one stayed awake all night one was awakened each time a REM period started and one was awakened just after a REM finished and the REM period began A week later Smith tested the groups on the tasks they had learn On the word memorization task there was little difference in per formance On the application task however the non sleepers and the REMdepnved groups scored ap proximately per cent lower than the others Smiths next study was to deter mine how much REM sleep needs to be lost to affect learning Theorizing that loss of sleep in the longest the last two REM periods would affect learning more he inter rupted the first two REM periods of one group and the last two REM periods of a second group SOLAR can make even window more energy efficient and help reduce fading and glare yearround They can be easily installed on any type or sue at window loo j fthox not to CODE Fonrfattt 321 Oftowo OrtanoKlN7Z2 fc However that both of the groups scored 30 per cent lower on the application task compared with a group that was not REM deprived and a control group that had slept all night As a result Smith wondered whether staying up late was as bad lor learning missing a night sleep altogether To test this he had a group stay up four hours past their normal bed time and allowed them to sleep in the next day so they got a normal amount of sleep but delayed by four hours Again the application task scores were 30 per cent lower than those of the control group of sleepers who went to bed at the usual time Delaying sleep suppresses the first two REM periods and alters the sleep cycle which in turn affects the learning process Smith explains Furthermore he found that the lear process extends over a period of time and that there are a number of weak spots or windows for up to a week afterwards during which learning is vulnerable to sleep loss It s not just the sleep delay on the night of learning that affects the ability to retain and apply the in formation Smith delayed sleep by four hours in one group on the night of learning and in other groups on the following nights if the tasks were learned on Tuesday one group delayed sleep that night one on Wednesday night and one on Test results showed that scores dropped for those who had delated sleep the night of learning Tuesda and those delayed two nights later Thursday The group that delayed sleep on the night bet ween scored as well as a control group who had not delayed their sleep The vulnerable spots in the learn ing process recur and delaying sleep during one of them is just as awful as not sleeping at all Smith says Smith concludes that when people are learning complex information should get their REM sleep when their bodies need and expect it It looks as if in order to learn something new involving heavy du l thinking and application for the best results should get to bed early Funding for Smith s studies has been provided b the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council OPEN HOUSE Sunday Sept Mill St E Acton and mod you ka rh a don ml o p by Ml Col Rom to A a B oh WHEN ITS COLD OUT fiberglass ceiling panels keep a room warm The panels arc acoustical and fireretardant They Come in a variety of designs and you can install them yourself Energyefficient home If you are in the market for a brand new energyefficient house con buying the 2000 home Since the early 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