[Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance by Dr. James B. Maas.]
Someone once defined a professor as "one who talks in other people's sleep." I compound the situation: I lecture about sleep. For thirty-four years I have had the pleasure of teaching the introductory psychology course at Cornell University. Undergraduates are among the most sleep-deprived members of the population, so it's not surprising that the topic of sleep would hold a particular fascination for those awake enough to listen.
Although we spend nearly one third of our lives sleeping, most people know very little about the incredibly varied activity that occurs during the course of each night and its effect on the quality of life. I, too, was one of the "uninformed" until 1969, when I ventured to make a short film on a scientist-physician who was able to detect and "capture" dreams as they occur during sleep. Filming the work of the pioneer sleep researcher Dr. William C. Dement, director of the Sleep Laboratory at Stanford University, changed the direction of my own professional career. It took only one night, thirty years ago, to hook me for good.
It was 1:30 A.M. At midnight a college student went to bed in the sleep lab with several electrodes taped to his face and scalp. A polygraph machine continuously recorded the sleeper's eye movements and brain waves, the machine's pens sketching a physiological symphony of the night on a paper trail that would be a mile long by morning.
Before the student fell asleep his brain waves had been fast; the polygraph pens moved vigorously. Thirty minutes after sleep onset the waves were slower and eye movements had all but ceased, indicating deep sleep. But now, ninety minutes later, the pens began to move vigorously once again. The sleeper's brain was very active and his eyes were darting back and forth, as if scanning the environment. Was he awake? Definitely not. The researcher aroused his volunteer and asked, "What was going through your mind just now?" The first of the night's several dreams was duly reported.
This rhythmic pattern of sleep and dreaming repeated itself every ninety minutes throughout the night. There were periods of movement and periods of quiescence, periods of dreaming and periods of total unconsciousness, as well as dramatic changes in body temperature, respiration, heart rate, and genital activity. Observing an all-night sleep-recording session was an awakening for me. Before this night I had regarded sleep as a waste of time, little more than a dull monotonous period of unconscious inactivity, occasionally punctuated by a dream usually forgotten by breakfast time.
Seeing firsthand the complexity of the sleeper's journey through the night, and intrigued by Bill Dement's fascinating experiments, I changed my opinion of sleep and began to ponder the same questions posed by dedicated sleep researchers. Why not let the brain coast in neutral to provide a period of maximal rest? Do the different brain stages and rhythms of sleep determine how you think, remember, plan, perform, and feel during the other two thirds of your life when you're awake? If so, how much sleep do you need to function optimally? Answers to these fundamental questions are important for everyone who lies down at least once every twenty-four hours and who wants to lead a successful life. So I began reading the sleep literature in depth.
The 1953 discovery by Eugene Aserinsky that rapid eye movements and specific changes in brain-wave activity signaled the likelihood that dreaming was occurring gave us a key to unlocking the cognitive mysteries of the night and stimulated research on all aspects of sleep. Within the last four decades sleep research has gone from being practically nonexistent to occupying the full attention of more than a thousand physiologists, psychologists, and physicians, including me. I became absorbed in the mainstream of sleep research that now pours forth at a prodigious rate.
Brain scientists have been able to prove that sleep is not a passive state, but rather an elaborate activity with its own positive functions. This book is devoted to the significant body of new research that demonstrates how profoundly sleep affects the quality of our life.
For anyone who wants to be successful, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury. The conclusions presented in Power Sleep are based on recent studies of the neurological, chemical, and electrical activity of the sleeping brain, which show that even minimal sleep loss can have profound detrimental effects on mood, cognition, performance, productivity, communication skills, accident rates, and general health, including the gastrointestinal system, cardiovascular functioning, and our immune systems.
Given the role of sleep in determining daytime functioning, most alarming to me is the current extent of sleep deprivation in our society. At least 50 percent of the American adult population is chronically sleep-deprived and a similar percentage report trouble sleeping on any given night. And it's getting worse by the decade. This devastating trend can be found throughout the industrialized world.
If we don't get adequate sleep, our quality of life, if not life itself, is jeopardized. With adequate sleep, the potential for peak performance is provided every morning. Unfortunately, in our hectic society we simply do not value sleep. This prescription for disaster must change. For my part, I have been devoting many of my waking hours for the last three decades to studying and teaching about the ineluctable relationship between adequate sleep and optimal living. My dream is that, given the proper research-based information, we can all learn to appreciate and benefit from the powerful advantage of sleep in preparing the mind and body for peak performance.
Much has been written on the architecture of the night's sleep, individual sleep requirements, sleep disorders, and how to get a good night's sleep. My own contribution has been to produce national television specials on sleep, to give presentations and seminars to corporate and lay audiences on "Power Sleep," and to be a resource for countless newspaper, magazine, radio, and television reports on various aspects of sleep and alertness. My Cornell psychology class has grown over three decades from 250 students to over 1,500 each semester, the largest single university live lecture course in the world. Devoting a considerable amount of time to lectures on sleep has undoubtedly contributed to the course's popularity.
Most of my audiences outside the classroom consist of busy business executives and professionals who are highly motivated to succeed in all aspects of life. They want to be efficient and effective and, not coincidentally, healthy and alert. They know they are often tired, but sleep has a low priority in their hectic schedules. There just isn't time. There are not enough hours in the day. That's life.
There is a better way. If you understand exactly what the brain accomplishes during various stages of a night's sleep and what your individual sleep requirement is, you're in a position to become a very different person. People who learn about sleep come to value sleep and adopt better sleep habits. After a few weeks they discover, perhaps for the first time, what it really feels like to be fully alert all day long. Their increased efficiency gives them enough hours in the day to work, and to play. They become better spouses, better parents, and better in their careers. They become more energetic, healthier, more successful, and happier with their lives. That's life as it should be.
Enthusiastic students, business executives, health-care providers, and other professionals who have heard my presentations have urged me to share with others the exciting new findings regarding the sleeping brain and its functions. They encouraged me to write a book that would help people understand and take full advantage of the power of sleep, with all its restorative and mind-enhancing properties. So with the assistance of my student researchers, Megan Wherry, David Axelrod, Barbara Hogan, and Jennifer Blumin, here it is.
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