Dicussion: There are many reasons that we need to sleep. It is a restorative pro

Question

Dicussion: There are many reasons that we need to sleep. It is a restorative process that helps us function. Suppose that a new “miracle pill” allows a person to function with only one hour of sleep per night. However, because a night’s sleep is so short, a person who takes the pill will never dream again. Knowing what you do about the functions of sleep and dreaming, what would be some advantages and drawbacks of such a pill from a personal standpoint? Would you take such a pill? You should offer at least one citation to support your work.

Explanation / Answer

Answer.

While the ‘miracle pill’ may appear to have desirable effects in the highly competitive and work oriented society like our, it can nonetheless have negative consequences in the long run a social it is found to cause latertaions in the natural cycle of sleep. Sleep as a process of consciousness is controlled by the circadian rhythms of the body which means that our body follows an internal clock which is ‘triggered’ by environmental factors such as the exposure to light and darkness. However, the given pill is claimed to reduce the need for sleep to only one hour which means that it will likely damage the natural circadian rhythms.

Moroever, the absence of dreaming with the pill is likely to have a chain of negative reactions not as dream state is assigned with rapid eye movement or R.E.M. sleep which occurs after about 90 minutes of sleep. R.E.M. sleep.

According to Dr J. Allan Hobson( Edwards, Nov 12, 2009), the major function of the REM sleep associated with dreams is physiological rather than psychological as the brain is activated at this stage and this’s is time when memory is consolidated. Thus, it is likely that the use of the miracle pill will negatively effect the functioning of the frontal cortex which is involved in higher cognitive processes suchas thinking, learning and memory.

While I may develop a momentary interest in the pill because of its alleged promise of extending the hours the wakefulness, its long term consequences on my mental functioning is a strong enough reason for me to make an informed decision against using such pills.

Reference:

Edwards, L. ( 2009). ‘ Dreams may have an important physiological function’. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 803-813 (November 2009); doi:10.1038/nrn2716

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