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  • © 1992

Why We Nap

Evolution, Chronobiology, and Functions of Polyphasic and Ultrashort Sleep

Birkhäuser

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiii
  2. Evolution, Chronobiology, and Functions of Polyphasic and Ultrashort Sleep: Main Issues

  3. Evolution, Development, and Regulation of the Sleep-Wake Cycle

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21
    2. The Phasing of Sleep in Animals

      • Nigel J. Ball
      Pages 31-49
    3. Sleep-Wake Rhythms and Sleep Structure in the First Year of Life

      • Piero Salzarulo, Igino Fagioli
      Pages 50-57
  4. Circadian and Ultradian Components of the Sleep-Wake System

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 69-69
    2. The Timing and Structure of Spontaneous Naps

      • Scott S. Campbell
      Pages 71-81
  5. Polyphasic and Ultrashort Sleep and Their Effects on Performance

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-135
  6. Irregular Schedules, Sustained Operations, and Napping

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-197
    2. Sustained-Operations Studies: From the Field to the Laboratory

      • R. G. Angus, R. A. Pigeau, R. J. Heslegrave
      Pages 217-241
  7. Polyphasic Behavior, Napping, and Sleep Disorders

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 243-243

About this book

J ÜRGEN AscHOFF "Very bad habit! Very bad habit!" Captain Giles to Joseph Conrad who had taken a siesta. -Conrad: The Shadow Line On the Multiplicity of Rest-Activity Cycles: Some Historical and Conceptual Notes According to its title this book tries to answer the profound question of why we nap-and why Captain Giles was wrong in blaming Conrad for having napped. However, in this volume the term nap is not used in the narrower sense of an afternoon siesta; instead, emphasis is placed on the recurrent alternation between states of alertness and drowsiness, i. e. , on rest-activity cycles of high er frequency throughout the 24 hr. In view of this focus, two authors (Stampi, in Chapter I, and Ball, in Chapter 3) rightly refer to the psychologist Szymanski who was among the first to describe "polyphasic" activity patterns. Hence, I consider it appropriate to open this foreword with a few historical remarks. At the time when Szymanski (1920) made the distinction between "monophasic" and "polyphasic" rest-activity patterns and sleep-wake cy­ cles, respectively, not much was known about the mechanisms of such temporal structures. Although the botanists quite some time ago had demonstrated the endogenous nature of the "monophasic" sleep movements in plants, the hypothesis of an (still unknown) external driving force was favored by those who studied rhythms in animals and humans (Aschoff, 1990).

Editors and Affiliations

  • Institute for Circadian Physiology, Sleep and Alertness Research Unit, Boston, USA

    Claudio Stampi

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Why We Nap

  • Book Subtitle: Evolution, Chronobiology, and Functions of Polyphasic and Ultrashort Sleep

  • Editors: Claudio Stampi

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2210-9

  • Publisher: Birkhäuser Boston, MA

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media New York 1992

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4757-2212-3Published: 20 November 2013

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4757-2210-9Published: 27 November 2013

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIII, 280

  • Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access