Related Sections: Future Tech
Scientists working on device that puts you to sleep
Insomniacs, rejoice! Studies are underway into what exactly happens when you fall into a deep sleep and how to cause those sleep waves to happen. Check it:
A TMS instrument sends a harmless magnetic signal through the scalp and skull and into the brain, where it activates electrical impulses. In response to each burst of magnetism, the subjects' brains immediately produced slow waves typical of deep sleep, Tononi says. "With a single pulse, we were able to induce a wave that looks identical to the waves the brain makes normally during sleep."Basically, they're working on a device that'll give you the benefits of 8 hours of deep sleep in half the time, turning us all into super-efficient superbeings and giving our employers an excuse to force a 13 hour work day on us.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, via MedGadget
By sleepyzzz at 7:58 PM ON 05/02/07
Don't get your hopes up too much for this to happen. Slow wave sleep (which is what they are attempting to stimulate) occurs primarily during the first half of the night in healthy sleepers. So if you only sleep 4 hours, most of what you get is slow wave sleep. It is restorative BUT REM sleep is as important and it occurs more often during the last 3 to 4 hours of sleep. Without REM sleep, the person can show symptoms of psychosis. Most people show loss of short term memory, agitation, severe mood swings (incl. the worst of bipolar disorder) and are basically impossible to deal with. This doesn't even touch on if the person has an underlying medical condition. Grrrr, bad science!
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sleepyzzz:
Don't get your hopes up too much for this to happen. Slow wave sleep (which is what they are attempting to stimula...More »