10 Interesting facts about sleep

Sleep - it's something many of us both love to get and sometimes have too much of. Whether your favourite place to rest is on your favourite bed, like one of our grey upholstered ottoman beds, on a sofa bed or even on your favourite chair in the living room, sleep is something we can all relate with. Read on for some interesting facts about sleep that you may not have heard of!

1. 12% of people have all of their dreams in black and white.

According to the national library of medicine, Only 15% of people dreamed in colour before colour television was introduced. Black and white dreams are more common in older people's dreams than in younger people's dreams.

2. Humans sleep for a third of their lives.

This certainly varies depending on the human's age, but on average, it's roughly a third, which is a significant amount.

3. The longest amount of time without sleep is 11 days.

Randy Gardner, a Californian student, achieved the record in 1964. This is not encouraged, as Randy suffered from severe sleep deprivation and others have died as a result of staying awake too long.

4. Dysania is a disorder in which getting out of bed in the morning is difficult.

We've all struggled to get out of bed at some point, but Dysania makes it considerably more difficult. The most likely diagnosis is CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).

5. It's estimated that up to 15% of the population sleepwalks.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, this is true. The idea that you shouldn't wake someone who is sleepwalking is likewise a misconception.

6. 50% of your dream is forgotten after 5 minutes of waking up.

After another 5 minutes, 90% of remembrance has vanished. This, according to Sigmund Freud, is because dreams represent our suppressed thoughts, and our brain wants to get rid of them as soon as possible. However, it's much more likely that as soon as we wake up, our brains are put to work, and we forget a lot of what we've dreamed about.

7. Sleep is a state of activity.

We used to believe that when we sleep, everything switches off. However, scientists have learned that our brains are quite busy while we sleep in the previous 60 years. In fact, while sleeping, several areas of the brain consume more oxygen and glucose than when awake.

8. Sleep occurs in cycles.

Sleep occurs in 90-minute cycles throughout the night. Every cycle includes REM (dreaming) sleep, even if it is only for a few minutes. We also have numerous brief arousals during the night. Most of these arousals go unnoticed, and most dreams are forgotten.

9. We still don't know the exact reason for sleep.

Why we need so much sleep is still a mystery to scientists. They believe it heals our bodies and aids in the organisation of our minds. We do know that without it, we wouldn't be able to function correctly.

10. Deep sleep comes first.

The deepest stages of sleep occur during the first three hours of sleep (Slow Wave Sleep). We have more of the sleep stage later in the night, with vivid dreams (Rapid Eye Movement Sleep, REM sleep).