Sleep is critical for physical and mental health, and our quality of life. While 3 percent of the population are genetically programmed to function with less than six hours sleep regularly, the rest of us need around 7.5 hours a night. But what determines whether we like to go to bed early or late?
What Happens When We Sleep?
Within a 7.5-hour-long sleep, the average person will complete five 90-minute sleep cycles.
The first few cycles concentrate on cleaning and maintaining our body, heart and brain. Our brain then files the information taken in during the day to consolidate our knowledge and learning.
Later, our REM (rapid eye movement) cycles allow the brain to play—creatively combining unconnected information and ideas (called abstraction), and targeting memory, plasticity, and building new brain (neurogenesis).
Larks and Owls
Our internal body clock is set via a combination of biology (nature), light exposure, and social scheduling (nurture).
Biologically, people sit on a bell-curve of “morningness and eveningness”. Around 10 percent of the population are morning larks, and 20 percent true night owls.
Light stimulates the hormone melatonin in the morning and shuts it off at night, leading to changes in energy levels, hunger, stress response, body temperature, and the stress hormone cortisol.
