It is a fact that older adults do not sleep as well as younger adults. The question is, do older adults simply need less sleep or are they unable to generate the sleep that is needed? As we age, sleep duration, sleep stages, and quantity/quality of sleep oscillations change. REM sleep in older adults reportedly reduce however are minimal compared to the big reduction in NREM sleep. Also, the number of daytime naps increase by 10% in adults 55-64 and 25% of adults ages 75-84. It is also important to note that these naps, especially the naps in the 75-84 age group, are unplanned. These are not a universal feature of old age though and older adults don’t all suffer from sleep deprivation at the same degree. This information is vital for me to consider in the lab I am working in this semester, the Somneuro Lab.
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