The Science of Sleep: What it is, why we need it, and how it works

by Wallace B. Mendelson

We often hear that humans spend one third of their lives sleeping—and most of us would up that fraction if we could. Whether we’re curling up for a brief lunchtime catnap, catching a doze on a sunny afternoon, or clocking our solid eight hours at night, sleeping is normally a reliable way to rest our heads and recharge our minds. And our bodies demand it: without sufficient sleep, we experience changes in mood, memory loss, and difficulty concentrating. Symptoms of sleep deprivation can be severe, and we know that sleep is essential for restoring and rejuvenating muscles, tissue, and energy. And yet, although science is making remarkable inroads into the workings and functions of sleep, many aspects still remain a mystery.
 
In The Science of Sleep, sleep expert Wallace B. Mendelson explains the elements of human sleep states and explores the variety of sleep disorders afflicting thousands of people worldwide. Mendelson lays out the various treatments that are available today and provides a helpful guide for one of life’s most important activities. By offering the first scientific yet accessible account of sleep science, Mendelson allows readers to assess their personal relationships with sleep and craft their own individual approaches to a comfortable and effective night’s rest.
 
Addressing one of the major public health issues of the day with cutting-edge research and empathetic understanding, The Science of Sleep is the definitive illustrated reference guide to sleep science. 

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Health

176 pages, Hardcover

Published October 5, 2017

About the author

Dr. Mendelson is a Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Pharmacology, and director of the Sleep Research Laboratory (ret), at the University of Chicago. He earned an MD degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and completed a residency in psychiatry there as well. He has held professorships at Ohio State University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, was Chief of the Section on Sleep Studies at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD, and Director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Mendelson is a past president of the Sleep Research Society. Among his honors is the William C. Dement Academic Achievement Award from the American Sleep Disorders Association/American Academy of Sleep Medicine as well as a Special Award in Sleep and Psychiatry from the National Sleep Foundation, and he is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Mendelson has authored 15 books and numerous peer-reviewed papers on various aspects of sleep research, psychiatry, and medical history. More information about his work can be found on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace...) and at his website (www.zhibit.org/WallaceMendelson).

Reviews

[Evin Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great/quick primer on the science of sleep - some passages are quite dry and technical, but Mendelson elucidates research vs assumptions about sleep, and doesn't pretend to know everything, even though he's an expert on the topic. He just presents you with the information and allows you to draw conclusions for yourself, which is an increasingly rare find in science these days - the lack of agenda.

Thus the book sparks a few questions in the mind of the reader, planting a deeper appreciation for this vital and mysterious ritual we all engage in during so much of our lives. I was especially intrigued by rapid eye movement (REM) "tracking something" during sleep, the increased brain activity during REM (according to PET scan images, there is more activity during REM than in the normal waking state of the brain), the effects of drugs on sleep and sleep disorders and their various misconceptions, as well as the general idea that the complexity of sleep corresponds to the complexity of the nervous system and emotions of a given species - with ours being the most complex.

It's really wonderful to learn more and equally want to know more about a topic after reading a book.

[Bill Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

While more of a textbook, this book has much of interest to the general reader. Much is yet unknown about sleep and Mendelson is clear as to what is known versus the areas where the science is still unclear. Many areas of investigation seem to feature conflicting studies and many apparent effects are correlations, so there is much to be learned about sleep yet.

Early work established that sleep alternates between Rapid Eye Movement (REM) periods and non-REM (NREM) periods. During these periods, the brain produces electrical waves of various frequencies - termed alpha, beta, delta and theta - that can be studied with the electocephalogram (EEG). Also used are the electrooculogram (EOG) to study eye movement, the the electromyogram (EMG) to study muscle tension.

While the author mentions long sleepers (Einstein) and short sleepers (Edison, Napoleon), he presents the view that normal sleep is close to eight hours, starting at 11 - 12 PM and waking at 7 - 8 AM. Deviations from this are largely treated as sleep disorders.

While Freud believed dreams to be a method of expressing unacceptable drives, there are now two primary theories around the purpose of dreams. The memory-related viewpoint is that dreams bring together visual, perceptual and emotional memories. The mood-regulatory viewpoint is that dreams serve to absorb and deal with the emotional experiences of the day.

While lower animals display quiescent periods, all animals of the size of a cockroach and above engage in sleep. Birds, whales and some others that must be continually aware of their environment have evolved the ability to sleep in alternate brain hemispheres.

For many years sleep was thought of as an idle activity, taking time from productive work. It is now clear that is necessary to support life. Two or three weeks of sleep deprivation is fatal to rats. Acute sleep loss results in changes to the body's physiology. People who have gone longer than 24 hours without sleep have experienced seizures.

Mendelson goes into some detail on circadian rhythms and their effect on the process of sleep. A section details the hormones that govern sleep. Much space is devoted to sleep disorders.

[Curt Bobbitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This coffee-table book has short chapters with boldfaced topic labels for every few paragraphs. Each titled section also has shaded, titled sidebars, charts, graphs, drawings, and/or paintings illustrating the content. It looks like a well-designed science book for young readers, yet the vocabulary deals with elements of sleep and sleep research such as EEG (electroencephalogram), EMG (electroculogram), EOG (electromyogram), VLPO (ventrolateral preoptic area of hypothamus), neurotransmitter, and norepinephrine. Mendelson describes one discovery by neuroscientist Clifford Saper: “…the mutual interaction of two sets of GABAergic neurons in the mesopontine tegmentum regulate the transitions between REM and NREM sleep.”

[Ietrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being an avid reader, I got so much used with the cheap titles offered by charlatans with well paid academic jobs that I was deceived by this book. The title is plain and clear. Yet I was expecting something else, something more practical about sleep. Almost a tips and tricks on sleep. What I got was a clear, sober and concise book about the science related to sleep and what it means. No magic formula that would grow my penis and make my breasts float as helium balloons once I obey the feng shui dragon of sleep. It would have made it to 5 stars, but the subject is not really up my alley.

[Jacob Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this summary to what sleep is all about, and how important it is in our lives. I particularly liked the chapter on sleep in animals, and how it relates to sleep in humans. If you'd like to find out more about sleep and what scientists are learning about it, this is the book for you!

[John Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a thoughtful and easy-to-understand survey of what sleep is, how it is regulated by the body, and why it is important to health. The illustrations add a lot, and the author's writing style is informal and makes it easy to grasp new concepts. It was both very enjoyable and very informative.

[Macy Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Making science and sleep accessible and easy to understand. I quite enjoyed this book as it made scientific concepts relevant and easy to understand. It also posed common questions as topics which kept things relevant.

[Bhanu Pratap · Rating 5 out of 5]

graphs are good enough to make you sleep.

[May Ling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: A great overview about Sleep. IMO, an odd mix of technical and practical. I would have preferred a more practical treatment for my needs.

I am trying to better understand the relationship between sleep and all bodily function. This book did delivery on much of this, though it is my first in the series of what I plan to read on the subject.

It does lay out the different types of sleep, N1, N2, N3, REM. However, it talks about all the science and not quite enough of the implications. I would have preferred a book that was organized around these phases. For example, early on, P. 16, there is a series of descriptions and charts about how long it takes going into these various versions and what brain waves do. I would have liked it to say, in N1, your breathing does this, your eyes do this, the implications to your blood or whatever is this. That instead is interspersed later. This all makes it really tough to remember where you are and what you're trying to understand.
I loved the next chapter which talks about sleep patterns in animals. I thought it was very interesting that the dolphin and certain other animals that have to remain alert can sleep 1/2 their brain at a time.

I do like the section on country sleep patterns. The problem is that I wish it went more into describe Why then what here. What do we actually see? I think there are some reason why you can't do that, i.e. we just don't know. However, i wish then that they would choose a different set of studies. I mean, interesting that one country gets up earlier and goes to bed later. But so what? What do we see? Why are we studying it? That sort of thing.

I think the good thing about this book is also it's flaw. It's not making any claims. It's more focused on presenting facts. They do a good job to talk about the way in which sleep may affect the mind as relates to depression. However, it's not conclusive or even suggestive. As a result, it's just hard to really get a sense for the take aways other than "that's nice."

Similarly, with Sleep Apnea.... Great advice on what it is and who might have it, but so what? What else has been tried to remove it? What should we truly anticipate behaviorally other than these folks are a bit heavy. For those of us that are living with or know people of this sort, we also see a host of related things. Not to mention, sleep apnea folks are not getting as much REM (I think I understood), so what does that imply about aging and the host of other things that go with it.

Finally, I think this book is really hard b/c if you don't know what some of the hormones are, you wouldn't even know that there might be another host of questions. For example, cortisol. It increases. It's associated with stress, male pattern weight gain, etc.... so if I've got sleep apnea or any other number of sleep disorders or work related long hours, how do I think about that? What should i be knowing. How do I know whether I need a few extra hours.

In short, reasonably good on facts. Hard to interpret how to use this very important info.