Sleep + Rest

• Circadian rhythm: a 24-hour internal clock that cycles between sleepiness and alertness at regular intervals (your sleep/wake cycle) and is regulated by hormones and light.
• Melatonin: a hormone that your brain produces in response to darkness, which helps with the timing of your circadian rhythm and sleep.
• REM latency: the time between when you fall asleep and enter REM sleep.
• REM sleep: a cycle of sleep with rapid eye movements that involves more dreaming and body movement, faster pulse and breathing. REM sleep makes up 25% of an adult sleep cycle and benefits learning, memory and mood.
• Non-REM sleep: “quiet sleep”, progresses through stages of increasingly deep sleep. Body temperature drops, muscles relax, and heart rate and breathing slow. Produces physiological changes that help boost immune system functioning; when body rebuilds and repairs. As we age, we get less non-REM sleep; on average adults experience just 30 minutes of this restorative sleep nightly.
• Sleep efficiency: the total time in bed vs time spent sleeping.
• Sleep hygiene: a variety of practices, techniques and tools that improve the quality of your sleep.
• Sleep latency: how long it takes after your head hits the pillow to fall asleep.

When we sleep, we cycle between two major categories of sleep – REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM – on an average of every 90 minutes.

Most adults need somewhere between 6 -10 hours of sleep each night. Different people need different amounts of sleep to feel rested. If you are frequently tired or irritable during the day and find yourself sleeping more on weekends, chances are you’re not getting enough sleep during the week. Getting a good night’s sleep has many benefits that support academic success. Research has shown the following benefits to a healthy sleep routine:

• Better memory: when you get a good night’s rest, your brain is able to take information from your day and sort and organize it. This makes it more efficient at retaining important information.
• Reduced risk of obesity: when you are sleep deprived, your body produces more of the hunger hormone called ghrelin which stimulates appetite and promotes fat storage. In addition, sleep increases leptin, a hormone that reduces appetite which in turn reduces our desire to snack.
• Improved immune system: sleep deprivation reduces our immune system’s ability to function, which means we are more likely to get sick. During sleep, the body releases proteins called cytokines which help heal infections and reduce inflammation.
• Improved mood: good-quality sleep has been shown to help reduce feelings of irritability, sadness and fatigue.

Students who get enough sleep can reap many benefits, but those who don’t may suffer serious consequences to their well-being. Research is discovering that sleep disruption affects levels of neurotransmitters and stress hormones, which wreaks havoc in the brain, impairing thinking and emotional regulation. Sleep deprivation can have a dramatic impact on our mental health and mood, making us more prone to anti-social behaviour, anxiety and depression. When sleep deprived, you’re not as alert or coordinated, impacting our academic ability.

One in four students indicates that lack of sleep has impacted their academic performance in a negative way, such as lower grades and missed papers or project deadlines. Some students rely on staying up most of the night to study, but pulling an all-nighter and cramming at the last minute can actually be counterproductive. The very qualities you need to maximize in order to do well academically, such as memory recall, concentration, and alertness, are decreased when you are sleep deprived. Research has shown that students who get six or fewer hours of sleep have a lower GPA than those who get eight hours or more.

During sleep, the brain organizes, sorts, and stores what you have learned and experienced that day, making it easier to recall at a later time. Sleep also helps you weed out irrelevant information and helps you make connections between your memory and information you learned that day, even if you have not made those connections while awake. If you study a little every day, you can use this natural process of sleep to gain a better understanding of the material and to retain information more efficiently.

Research has found that for students sleep consistency appears to be just as important as sleep duration and quality when it comes to academic performance. What this indicates is that getting a good night’s rest the night before an exam is not enough; the week leading up to the exam is just as important. Consistency is key!

• Avoid afternoon caffeine. Caffeine increases brain activity up to eight hours after it is consumed. A good rule to follow is to avoid all caffeine three to four hours before bedtime to avoid it keeping you awake.
• Shut off all electronics an hour before bed. Many students are falling asleep to the screen of a smartphone or laptop. Research is discovering more and more how unhealthy this habit can be. The blue light emitted from electronics tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime and your body decreases the amount of melatonin it secretes, which makes it more difficult to fall asleep.
• Get into a routine. To function optimally, your body clock needs regularity to remain coordinated. Maintain a regular bed and wake schedule including on weekends. Sleeping more than one to two hours more on the weekend can wreak havoc on your circadian rhythm, so a regular wake schedule is important. Consistency is key!
• Prepare for sleep. Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath, reading a book or listening to soothing music.
• Eat a bedtime snack. Some foods make you feel sleepy while others give you an energy boost. Certain foods contain an amino acid called tryptophan that causes sleepiness (e.g. milk, seeds, bananas, honey and eggs). Carbohydrates make tryptophan more available to the brain and proteins from the food we eat are the building blocks of tryptophan. The best bedtime snack is one that contains both a carbohydrate and a protein. Just make sure it is a small snack as a heavy meal will activate your digestive system. Limit high-fat or spicy food to at least three hours before bedtime.
• Exercise regularly. It is best to complete your workout at least two hours before bedtime, as exercising directly before you sleep can leave your body too energized to relax.
• Avoid nicotine and alcohol close to bedtime. Consumption of alcohol and nicotine has shown to reduce the amount of REM sleep experienced.
• Create a bedroom that encourages sleep. Environment and ambiance can make a big difference when it comes to getting a good night’s rest. Create a space that helps prepare your mind and body for quality sleep – ideally, dark, quiet, comfortable and cool. Soft fabrics, supportive pillows, essential oil scents like lavender, and soft lighting can be helpful.
• Keep your bed a study-free zone. Create zones in your bedroom so that your brain does not associate studying and being alert with your bed.
• Practice meditation. Meditation is the practice of slowing down the mind by focusing on the breath or a mantra. Meditation slows down metabolic activity and reduces anxiety.
• Get some daylight daily. A small amount of time outside each day in daylight helps to preserve your body’s sleep and wake cycles. There are many options on campus for getting this in: take an outside route to class, study outside or organize a weekly outdoor outing with your friends.
• Minimize sleep disruptions. Living in places like residence, an apartment or a house with a large number of people can make it very difficult to control your sleep environment. Talk to your roommates about setting a regular sleep time so that they can be respectful of your need for a quiet environment. White noise machines can also help block out unwanted sounds.
• Go to bed only when you are sleepy. If you can’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed and do a relaxing activity somewhere else until you feel sleepy again. Try deep breathing or relaxation techniques if you’re having trouble falling asleep due to stress or anxiety.
• Consider sleep medications or natural supplements. If you are experiencing sleep deprivation or are concerned about the quality of sleep you are experiencing, speak to your family doctor. Supplements like magnesium, calcium and melatonin may help and there are medications available to help improve your sleep-wake cycle, increasing the possibility of a better night’s sleep.
• Nap. In many cultures, particularly those with roots in tropical regions, afternoon napping is commonplace and built into daily routines which typically coincides with a brief lag in the body’s internal alerting signal. This signal, which increases throughout the day to offset the body’s increasing drive to sleep, wanes slightly in mid-afternoon, giving sleep drive a slight edge. Try napping before 4 p.m.

for no longer than 30 minutes to avoid the groggy feeling that occurs if you enter a deeper sleep cycle and then are awakened suddenly. Durham College has several cozy nooks- keeping an eye mask and earplugs in your backpack can be helpful.

Students looking for more information or support while on campus can access the Campus Health and Wellness Centre to discuss their current sleep cycles and find tools to increase the quality and consistency of their sleep.

TED Talk: Matt Walker- Sleep Is Your Superpower

TED Talk: Russell Foster – Why Do We Sleep?

Canadian Sleep Society

Psychology Today Sleep Habit Test

Better Sleep.Org

Sleep Diary