To arrive at a better understanding of my sleep problems I have:
- Initiated sleep data recording over a one month period
- Initiated an experiment to test the effects of Tryptophan
- Defined a sleep protocol
- Initiated an experiment on the use of eidetic imagery
Sleep Observations – Sleep Diary
Data collection commenced on October 15. It is intended to record sleep and wake times over a 30 day period and then examine the data set and draw conclusions from it.
Sleep Experiment – Tryptophan
This experiment seeks to test the possible beneficial effects of consuming Tryptophan prior to retiring. It will be the subject of a subsequent post.
Sleep Observations – Sleep Protocol
I am in the process of defining a sleep protocol. This consists of a set of guidelines to ensure proper rest. Each variable will be tested independently to determine its effect and the outcomes reported at a later date.
Sleep Experiment – Eidetic Imagery
It is acknowledged in the scientific literature that a human subject presented with explicit sexual imagery will undergo sexual arousal. Imagery alone is capable of triggering a physiological response including changes in heart rate and blood pressure, and hormonal release.
It is recognized that an excess of blue light emissions (found in association with digital devices such as computer monitors, televisions and cell phone screens) may impair the ability to enter sleep. Blue light exposure suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms. Melatonin is present at low levels during the day, begins being released a few hours before bedtime, and peaks in the middle of the night.
Harvard researchers and their colleagues conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light to exposure to green light of comparable brightness. The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours).
The working hypothesis is that recall of a eidetic image biased in favour of the red spectrum may trigger physiological changes in the subject and promote release of melatonin when retiring. The header image on this post represents such a test image.
When falling asleep, my mind calls up imagery from the past day. This imagery contains normal levels of detail and this detail triggers a review of the days events. My sense of what is happening is that bedtime represents a “safe time.” I can now dispense with all of the self-monitoring that I perform during the day. In a sense I am granting myself permission to enter a period of repose which is not constrained by the needs of self-moderation, self-regulation, and close attention to performance detail.
Once I make this release, I commence a performance review of the day’s activity. I cast my attention back over the day to identify points of failure, or awkwardness, things that may have been performed well, badly, or not at all. This review is mandated by the need to obtain better self-awareness of performance failures due to cognitive deficits. It results in an increase in intellectual activity at the moment of seeking sleep. It is suspected this review activity inhibits entering sleep.
A second observation concerns decision making. The review process will result in my attempting to formulate decisions, or come to a decision on some aspect of my life. From experience of the injury, I know that I appear to become “stuck’ within a decision loop, unable to arrive at a decision, and unable to exit the loop. I thought this was just me being weird but an account by a second mTBI victim describes a very similar state. The sleep initiation thought sequence therefore runs as follows: 1) retire and attempt to initiate sleep; 2) Relaxation of self-monitoring; 3) Eidetic presentation of imagery and detail from the past period of wakefulness; 4) Commencement of review and self critique; 5) Increased wakefulness and sleep inhibition; 6) Stuck in a decision loop.
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Sources and Links
The impact of light from computer monitors on melatonin levels in college students
Blue light has a dark side This is the source for the above quote.
Q&A: Why Is Blue Light before Bedtime Bad for Sleep?
How Blocking Blue Light at Night Can Transform Your Sleep