Hours of Sleep, Life Satisfaction & Cognitive Functioning Cognitive Functioning

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOURS OF SLEEP, SATISFACTION WITH LIFE AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING

Relationship between Hours of Sleep and Both of Satisfaction with Life and Cognitive Functioning

Proper sleeping hours are very important for our body's functioning. When a person is sleeping, his body is in the process of repair; thus allowing his brain to have some rest and the needed down time. There are many negative effects of less sleeping hours on the cognitive function as well as life satisfaction of a person.

Just like a proper diet, sleep plays a very essential role in the maintenance of overall health of an individual. Unfortunately, Americans are facing some serious cognitive and life satisfaction problems due to lack of sleeping hours. According to an estimate from U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), approximately 25% of U.S. citizens have less sleeping hours, while only 10% are subject to insomnia. (National Sleep Foundation, 2005) Additionally, the sleeping hours of an average U.S. citizen has declined from 8-9 hours to 6-7 hours per 24 hours. This lack of sleeping hours in American citizens has resulted in increased mental and physical health problems. Changes in lifestyle and several therapies are playing a major role in healthy and regular sleep of Americans. In human body, pineal glands release melatonin which stimulates sleep. (Kim and Woon 2010)

There are four stages of sleep which can be categorized as eye movement sleep (non-rapid) (NREM1, NREM 2 & NREM 3) and the rapid eye movement sleep (REM). Changes in brain waves and body muscle are the distinguishing factors for these stages of sleep. REM sleep is of high clinical importance and account for 20-25% of human sleep. This...

In REM sleep, organization and consolidation of memories take place which indicates that REM is very necessary for proper cognitive functioning.
Lack of sleeping hours generally results in impairment in behavior and cognitive functioning. This also have very serious effects on the mental capabilities of an individual, therefore, medical consultants recommend an average sleep of 8-9 hours daily to maintain proper cognitive functioning. Sleep is necessary for proper functioning of the nervous system. Some experts claim that sleep allows the neurons (brain cells), that are extremely active throughout the day, a chance to recover. When you don't get enough sleep, your neurons may become so depleted that they begin to malfunction. In addition, deep sleep is related to increased production of proteins. Since proteins are the building blocks of our body and they're also responsible for repairing damaged cells, sleep is clearly a crucial component of our brain fitness. (Groeger & Zijlstra 2004)

Sleep hours have a very strong relationship with life satisfaction and the cognitive functioning of human beings. Proper sleep is very essential for human nervous system. Less sleeping hours can result in deteriorating the physical as well as mental health of human beings. It is generally recommended by medical practitioners that human body needs at least 8-9 hours of sleep every day. People having lower sleeping hours can face serious problems e.g. irritability, short-term memory, attention deficit disorder, lower energy levels, dissatisfaction with life, etc. Lack of sleeping hours is also very dangerous for operation of machinery, driving, etc. And can cause accidents. It can also result in damaging the respiratory…