Sleep
Sleep Problems in the Elderly
Web sites include the American Sleep Disorders Association (www.asda.org),
the National Sleep Foundation (www.sleepfoundation.org)
and Sleep Home Pages (www.sleephomepages.org/).
A short afternoon nap (<30 min.) improves alertness in the afternoon.
Afternoon alertness was better than morning alertness after a nap and
worse if they took no nap.
Source: Horoshima Univ Study. Tamaki, Shirota, Hayashi, Hori
Students who took a 15 min. nap after lunch had fewer errors on a logical
reasoning test and were more alert compared to when they did not nap. However,
memory test scores were only slightly better.
Source: Takahashi, M. and Arito, H., Maintenance of alertness and performance
by a brief nap after lunch under prior sleep deficit, Sleep, 23:813-819, 2000.
Summary at faculty.washington.edu/chudler/naps.html
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last updated 8 Sep 2002
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