Platforms allow great apes to get more deep sleep. Other monkeys do a lot of light sleeping, since they need to listen for predators even when they're sleeping.pic.twitter.com/vQIG50UA4I
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The theory behind the Uberman and other polyphasic sleep schedules, is that when you deprive yourself of sleep, your body skips NREM stage 1 and 2 sleep (which are the vestigial, low-value types of sleep), and goes straight into high-value sleep: SWS (NREM stage 3) and REM.
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In fact, your body skips low-value sleep after you pull an all-nighter. When you finally sleep, the time between initially falling asleep and getting into SWS ("slow wave sleep") is halved. Paradoxically, by restricting your sleep, your sleep becomes more efficient.pic.twitter.com/B8ZhKz03TK
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Personally, I'm skeptical of the Uberman sleep schedule or any sleep schedule that is under 4 hours of total sleep. I suspect a high-functioning human should continue getting 2 hours of REM and 2 hours of SWS.
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There are other polyphasic schedules that I'm intrigued by.
@Malcolm_Ocean follows a bi-phasic sleep schedule. He gets 2 hours each of REM, SWS, and "light sleep" (stage 1 and 2 NREM).pic.twitter.com/b2P78Jq6Mx
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Most people get the same amount of REM and SWS as Malcolm (2 hours each), but more light sleep. But if light sleep *is* vestigial, the extra sleep time is unnecessary.
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Individuals can sleep less than the CDC-recommended 7-8 hours, and still function at peak cognitive ability. The key is to improve the quality of your sleep to ensure that you're maximizing REM and SWS.
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A few days ago, I started the "Everyman-3" schedule, where I sleep 3.5 hours per night, and take three 20-minute naps. So in total I sleep 4.5 hours per night.https://medium.com/@drewface/30-day-polyphasic-sleep-experiment-58332f882c01 …
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By keeping myself sleep deprived, I'm hoping my sleep becomes more efficient, limiting light sleep to the bare minimum. I'm also taking steps to improve my sleep quality, like getting blackout curtains and a face mask.
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Mostly, I'm just bored during quarantine and thought it was time for an experiment
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Update: First few days were brutal. I'd fall asleep in the middle of whatever I was doing. I staved off sleep by holding ice cubes, or standing in cold water. I spent my time doing low-energy activities like watching TV. (Recs: Unorthodox, Run This City, Tiger King)
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Each day got a little easier. I'd have a few more hours of productive wakefulness each day. (However, even when I felt wakeful, it wasn't easy to focus or get into flow state)
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The last few days have felt surprisingly normal. I get sleepy sometimes, but the sleepiness is similar to how you might feel sleepy if you woke up to a 7 a.m. alarm. (Rather than a 2:30 a.m. alarm!)
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Every day, I test my alertness with the Psychomotor Vigilance Test. Astronauts use PVT on the International Space Station, to identify when fatigue is affecting their performance. You can take the test here: http://www.sleepdisordersflorida.com/pvt1.html#responseOut …
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My PVT scores are consistently in a normal range. So my reflexes are as 'alert' as usual. What I'm actually curious about is how my cognitive abilities and focus compare to normal. Twitter, do you have any cognitive test recs? Ideally a short test that can be re-taken daily
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End of conversation
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