Psychology Sleep Incursion

On 2 August SMS and BGS Unit 4 Psychology students attended a ‘Sleep Incursion’ at SMS, presented by Julie Howes a Sleep Scientist at Epworth Freemasons. Julie’s presentation included the normal features of sleep and the associated brain wave patterns. Julie explained how our sleep patterns change across the lifespan, including the adolescent sleep-wake cycle shift.  Julie explained the equipment that is used to study sleep in the laboratory and the reasons why people may be referred to a Sleep Scientist. BGS student Jari Linton volunteered to be monitored using the equipment and went into an adjoining room to try to fall asleep. Whilst Jari didn’t manage to fall asleep we did see some ‘microsleeps’ by observing his brain wave patterns. Julie explained some of the interesting sleep disorders that her patients may experience, such as, REM Behaviour Disorder, whereby an individual acts out their dreams. The incursion was a valuable learning experience for the students in terms of their studies, but also on the importance of good sleep hygiene.