Indigenous Sleep

In the article by Traci Watson published in National Geographic, she analyzes the idea that artificial light has been associated with lack of sleep in recent studies. She follows the work of sleep researcher Jerome Siegel, who is studying the sleep habits of hunter-gatherer societies, who lack electricity. What is found is that these societies that lack artificial light sources, still sleep less than the recommended seven to nine hours, which is recommended to adults by the National Sleep Foundation. Siegel tracked sleep and light patterns using wrist-watch like devices that were worn to track light and movement. From the tracking, they see that most of these societies fall asleep after sunset and wake before sunrise, still amounting to less than the recommended sleep time. Although, these societies were found to not have trouble falling asleep, with no instances of insomnia or related sleep disorders. Although it is found that those without electricity still fall asleep earlier than those with it, the results are interesting and catching the attention of other sleep researchers.

                In Dr. Cavanaugh’s talk to the neuroscience students of Loyola University Chicago, he spoke on his research on Drosophila to study what causes sleep timing. What he presented was that circadian and homeostatic processes in Drosophila have a profound impact on sleep timing. Already seen in humans with disruption of core clock genes. These flies which can be analogous to the hunter-gather societies of the Siegel study are found to have specific sleep timings and patters determined heavily by their internal rhythms. Proven in gene knockout organisms by Dr. Cavanaugh. These flies showed specific sleep timings and homeostatic behavior. The societies of the Siegel study also follow similar patterns which satiate their natural tendencies (sleep, hunger, survival, etc.) but also involved moments of social behavior integrated into their patterns. These societies who do not have the influence of artificial light, could be running on a more natural influence even if it leads to similar sleep levels as societies who are more industrially advanced. Dr. Cavanaugh also spoke on the idea of sleep debt, and how lack of sleep builds up. In a society without issues such as insomnia, there would be less instance of sleep debt. So even though the amount of sleep each night is comparable, the quality of sleep between these two societies could be very different because of the presence of artificial light.

Works Cited

Cavanaugh, Daniel J., Abigail S. Vigderman, Terry Dean, David S. Garbe, and Amita Sehgal. "The Drosophila Circadian Clock Gates Sleep through Time-of-Day Dependent Modulation of Sleep-Promoting Neurons." Sleep. Oxford University Press, 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

Watson, Traci. "People Without Electricity Don't Get 8 Hours' Sleep Either." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 28 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.