Sleep Dynamics in Order to Discover the Topic in the Social Environment

Abstract

In 2014, scientists at the Center for Applied Genomics discovered that people who slept around five hours a day had the Thatcher gene. This name refers to the former and famous Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher, who was peculiar for having only four hours of sleep per night. Leaving this historical contextualization and entering contemporary reality, it is noted that words such as insomnia, physical fatigue, inattention and mental disorders are already present in the vocabulary of the Brazilian population when it comes to the topic of sleep. Due to the magnitude and impact that this issue has on the quality of life of the population, the following problem question was raised: "What are the ramifications of sleep and how does it impact the well-being of individuals?". This study aims to promote the reader's understanding of the constitution of sleep in the light of Neurophysiology and to make notes on important aspects surrounding sleep in order to clarify this topic within the social sphere. The present study was based on bibliographical review research in the literature relevant to the objectives. The bibliographic research included 30 scientific articles and periodicals, between 2005 and 2022, carried out in the following databases: Google Scholar, Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo), National Library of Medicine (PubMed) and Virtual Health Library (VHL). 25 articles were selected to compose the review article. It was found that sleep deprivation causes significant harm to daily activities, such as problems with selective attention and working memory, as well as problems often related to mental disorders, neurological illnesses and diagnoses in other medical specialties. Added to this, it emerged that the massive and excessive use of smartphones has had an impact on the quality of sleep, especially among young people. It is understood, therefore, that the majority of selected articles demonstrated that sleep quality impacts the balanced maintenance of the systemic functions of human metabolism, as well as brain functioning, and that dysfunctions linked to this physiological state affect the biopsychosocial well-being of individuals.