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Sleep makes up about a third of our lives, and we all need it to survive. But how much do you actually know about sleep?

Test Your Sleep Knowledge

REM stands for Rapid Eye movement. During REM sleep, our bodies are paralyzed except for our eyes, which dart back and forth, explaining this sleep stage’s name. While it's possible to dream in other stages, it is much more likely to find dreaming in REM sleep.

REM sleep

During which stage of sleep are we most likely to dream?

Circadian rhythms exist to allow living species to synchronize with the 24hour light/dark rotation of the earth, and are produced by an internal biological clock called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. When your circadian rhythm is disrupted by extended travel, it’s called jet lag.

All of the above

What do circadian rhythms do?

Teenagers and young adults in their early twenties have brains that are still growing, so a full night of sleep (at least 8.5 hours rather than the 8 hours you might have heard) is crucial!

8-9 hours

How much sleep does a young adult need?

There’s truth to the old saying of “sleeping on it”. All the above are anecdotal examples of “sleep-creativity”. Studies have confirmed the sleep benefit, showing that sleep to gain insight on a problem increased insight by three times compared with simply staying awake

All of the above!

Which of the following was the result of “sleeping on it”?

While smoking or consuming weed does in fact make you fall asleep faster, it also decreases your total REM sleep and REM density, both of which are crucial for fully restorative sleep. Additionally, in marijuana withdrawal, it becomes even harder for you to fall asleep, and you’ll be subject to strange dreams as your brain tries to regain some of its lost REM sleep.

1 & 3

What's the effect of marijuana on sleep?

The importance of sleep for learning and retaining new information and skills cannot be understated! Depriving yourself of sleep for one night of cramming or revelry will affect the formation, consolidation, and integration of memories of the previous day, as well as days to come.

Sleep is important for...

Surprise! Losing sleep has the potential of making you gain weight AND get sick. In fact, sleep deprivation and immune system impairments has the potential to worsen cancer!

Both!

Sleep deprivation has serious effects on your:

You CANNOT fully make-up lost sleep from one night with another or even two. One night of sleep deprivation can affect you for days to come.

False!

True or False: You can “make-up” sleep you’ve lost during the week over the weekend

It is scientifically proven that lucid dreaming is possible, and can even be learned and practiced!

True!

True or False: It is possible to “lucid dream”, or have awareness you are dreaming and possibly gain control over the dream

No evidence has been found for Freud’s hypothesis. A much more likely hypothesis is that dreams are simply the brain interpreting random electrical impulses that are produced during REM sleep. Other theories for the purpose of dreaming includes the erasure of redundant memories, and the dissipation of strong emotional memories to prevent long-term anxiety.

False

True or False: As Freud hypothesized, it is possible to “interpret” dreams, as dreams are disguised, hallucinatory fulfillment of repressed wishes.

But that’s OK! Hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two from this quiz about the importance of a full night of sleep, and the seriously disastrous consequences of sleep deprivation. Sleep is a natural, essential part of living a long and healthy life, and we’re pretty much the only species on the planet who tries to deprive themselves of it. Don’t fight sleep, embrace it!

You didn’t know much about sleep…

Or maybe you caught on to the “all of the above trend” :) Either way, hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two from this quiz about the importance of a full night of sleep, and the seriously disastrous consequences of sleep deprivation. Sleep is a natural, essential part of living a long and healthy life, and we’re pretty much the only species on the planet who tries to deprive themselves of it. Don’t fight sleep, embrace it!

You know a fair amount about sleep!

You know a whole lot about sleep!

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Test Your Sleep Knowledge

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