| “Sleeping Beauty” is a traditional European fairy tale. The most popular version of the fairy tale was published in 1967 by Charles Perrault. Another version of the tale was published by Grimm Brothers.
Plot:
An offended fairy, who was overlooked at the Christening of the Princess casts a spell on her. The princess pricks her finger on a spindle and falls asleep. The entire kingdom sleeps along with her. After many years, a Prince finds her. He kisses the Princess and she wakes up.
Ballet:
* “Sleeping Beauty (ballet)” - the P.I.Tchaikovsky ballet libretto by I.Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa. It was written in 1889 and premiered in 1890.
Cinema:
The Soviet director Vasilev Sergey Dmitrievich made the film “Sleeping Beauty” in 1930.
The premiere of the animated movie “Sleeping Beauty” from Walt Disney Studios took place on January 29, 1959.
Image arts:
Gustave Dore made a series of six engravings on the theme of the fairy tale.
Sleep:
Sleep is a condition, which periodically occurs in a human being and other warm-blooded animals, during which motion and sensor activity gets interrupted. Sensitivity decreases during sleep, many muscles relax and reflexes become impeded. Sleep differs from sleep-like conditions - coma, narcosis, hibernation (sleepiness) or hypnosis – since it occurs under the influence of inner but not external factors and the waking-up ability remains during sleep.
The nature of sleep always aroused heightened interest and served as the reason for a number of guesses and assumptions. It is no wonder that a human being spends one third of his life sleeping. Various deities, patronizing sleep, existed in ancient cultures. In Greek mythology, the god of sleep was called Hypnos, in Roman – Somnus. Morpheus, god of dreams, was one of the thousand sons’ of Somnus. The god of sleep was considered as the brother of the god of death and both of them were sons of the goddess of the night.
Modern studies have considerably enriched our notion about sleep. Special conditions are created in laboratories, which are engaged in studying sleep, thus allowing in assessing the influence of certain factors on sleep (experimental variables). Studies are carried out in sound-proof and temperature-controlled premises and obtained data is based on objective measurements and continuous monitoring. Monitoring is usually done at night for 8 hours and includes recording the transistance of the brain (electroencephalogram, EEG), movement of the eyes (electrooculogram, EOG) and muscular activity (electromyogram, EMG). Similar studies have great value for the diagnostics and treatment of sleep disorders and also for the analysis of the influence of medicines on the central nervous system.
The revelation that rapid eye movements (REM) periodically occur during the night in a sleeping person was one of the first and major results of the laboratory studies. The phase of sleep in which REM sleep is recorded, was called “Rapid” (or paradoxical) sleep or sleep with REM; in this phase, a person more often dreams. Other stages of sleep, during which REM is not observed, are collectively called “slow wave” sleep or sleep without REM.
The phases of sleep:
Slow wave sleep, in turn, consists of separate stages. They are designated as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th stages. REM sleep is not divided into individual stages and is studied as a single phase.
SLEEP CHARACTERISTICS:
Dreams:
One of the cardinal revelations in the field of sleep study was the fact that in 80% of cases, people woken in the REM sleep phase discussed their dreams. The same people, who are woken in a phase without REM, seldom talked about their dreams. Mental activity, about which the people woken during sleep without REM, recollected, was more likely similar to thoughts than dreams, because live images, linked with their own experiences, which are characteristics for a dream, were absent in sleep.
Since REM sleep occurs cyclically during the night in all the people, those people, who declare that they never see dreams, most likely, simply are not in a position to recollect the dreams. REM sleep happens not under the influence of any internal or external stimulus - it is generated by internal mechanisms at any point of about 90 minutes time. But if a stimulant acts during the REM sleep, he can find reflection in the content of dream.
Other studies have shown, that people who were woken during REM sleep in the second half of the night, could narrate better about their dreams. Recollection of a dream depends on how the person is awakened - suddenly or gradually and also during what period is the person awakened with respect to REM sleep. If the person is gradually awakened, then the narration would be more abstract and less clear. Also, the memorizing of a dream decreases in direct proportion with time, passed from the end of REM sleep phase up to awakening.
The depth of a dream is determined first of all by two factors: the stage of the dream and the time of night. The deepest sleep, characterized by the highest awakening threshold, is observed during the 4th stage – it is very to difficult to wake a person particularly during this period. During REM sleep the awakening threshold is lowest and hence, it is much easier to interrupt this sleep. However, it is necessary to note, that not all stimulants equally facilitate awakening during REM sleep. As to the time of night, it is very difficult to wake a person at any stage of sleep in the beginning of the night than in the same stage in the second half of the night.
Physiology:
The speed of the metabolic processes decreases, muscle tone drops, the temperature of the body and the cerebrum decreases and the rate of the cardiac contractions and respiration also decrease during sleep without REM. |
Hard economic times are taking their toll - America is turning into a sleep deprived nation. One-third of those surveyed for the National Sleep Foundation's annual "Sleep in America" poll had fallen asleep or become sleepy at work in the past month. The poll also found that Americans are working more and sleeping less. The average amount of sleep was six hours and 40 minutes a night. The average workday? Nine hours and 28 minutes.
Photoshop people sleeping in places / situations where they should NOT be sleeping. On duties, at work, doing sports, going out, etc.
