Sleep Deprivvvvvv

[CraigD]

There was a good bit of discussion similar to this thread’s in about a month ago in 10488. I recounted my and my wife’s spooky experiences with sleep deprivation while driving (or what I tend to think of as doing things while slightly asleep that are best done while wide awake) in this post.

 

My personal experience with staying awake for a long time while not doing something dangerous consists most notably of one Thursday night/Friday morning I didn’t sleep, and decided to carry on through the weekend to see how long I could stay awake, and what it was like.

 

From dusk to dawn Friday night/Saturday morning, I sat cross-legged watching the night in my best impersonation of someone who really knows how to do yoga, having very quiet, very strange thought that seemed to revolve around the idea that I was superhuman and would never need to sleep again. Though I remained in a head-up, spine-straight position all night, I now suspect I was falling into brief “dreamlet” states of neurotypical sleep.

 

The next day, Saturday, I felt preternaturally alert and calm, and went to the track to test my physical performance. Though I felt fine, I was significantly weaker than normal, with terrible times running distances from 50 to 400 m, and even worse long jump distances.

 

Saturday early afternoon, still feeling better-than-normal, I ran my usual FRPG session. Several players commented that I was weirder than my usual self, though none mentioned an increased rate of errors, verbal pauses, or other typical signs of sleep depravation.

 

By dusk, I was barely able to stay awake, even after downing a travel mug of cafeteria espresso (I worked in a dorm cafeteria that sold espresso, so had illicit access to it). It was a my tradition to spend from about 8 PM ‘til cafeteria breakfast at 6:30 AM playing an “offshoot” campaign with for a small bunch of FRPGers, but my cognitive skills were so impaired, I abandoned that, and tried to repeat Friday night’s cross-legged night-watching trick, but kept finding myself stretched out in a comfy sleeping position with no clear recollection of having gone from sitting to that, so by 10 PM curled up in a nice soft bed and went to sleep.

 

Saturday night/Sunday morning, I had vivid, memorable dreams in which I was involved in an attempt to save the world from mental domination by artist Salvador Dali. In this dream, I physically entered the world of his oil painting “The Persistence of Memory”, and ran about trying to defeat an old, long-mustached Dali’s attempts to chop the landscape into “The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory”, ultimately succeeding.

 

I awoke late Sunday morning, feeling refreshed and happy, until I looked at my walls to see several small scraps of paper from the corners of the not-that-cheap prints of those 2 Dali paintings. I discovered the prints stacked neatly under my bed. Fortunately, I was able to mat them, hiding the torn-off corners.

[freeztar]

Saturday night/Sunday morning, I had vivid, memorable dreams in which I was involved in an attempt to save the world from mental domination by artist Salvador Dali. In this dream, I physically entered the world of his oil painting “The Persistence of Memory”, and ran about trying to defeat an old, long-mustached Dali’s attempts to chop the landscape into “The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory”, ultimately succeeding.

 

I awoke late Sunday morning, feeling refreshed and happy, until I looked at my walls to see several small scraps of paper from the corners of the not-that-cheap prints of those 2 Dali paintings. I discovered the prints stacked neatly under my bed. Fortunately, I was able to mat them, hiding the torn-off corners.

 

:confused: :lol:

That's a great story!

It's interesting to note that Dali was a fanatical sleep-depriver. I remember from art class that he would be so enthralled with his work that he did not want to stop until finished (in fear that he would lose his inspiration). He believed that he didn't need much sleep to keep going and would sit in a chair with a fork or spoon in his hand and relax. When he fell asleep, the spoon would fall and its clamoring on the floor would awaken him. So that's less than one second of sleep!

No wonder his paintings are so weird!! :hihi:

[Queso]

Is it true that seratonin levels are decreased

and dopamine levels are increased the further we go without sleep?

[freeztar]

Well, my nuerochem friend had a bit of insight.

He says that there is an increease in excitatory activity. Here's a good link I found:

Excitatory neurotransmitters and their receptors increase the neuron's internal electrical activity and excitability. This increases the likelihood that a neuron will relay an incoming signal. (Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, dopamine, glutamate and phenylethylamine (PEA) are excitatory)

 

In contrast, inhibitory neurotransmitters and their receptors reduce neuronal excitability and increase the likelihood that an incoming signal will be terminated. For optimal functioning, the brain must balance the excitatory and inhibitory influences: Excessive excitation can lead to seizures, insomnia, anxiety, and many other clinical conditions, whereas excessive neuronal inhibition can result in incoordination, sedation, and anesthesia. (Serotonin, GABA, taurine and glycine are inhibitory)

balance neurotransmitters for better brain function