The state of sleep research

Recent developments in sleep research are extremely interesting. The two most interesting findings are on the importance of non-REM sleep in memory formation and studies on Modafinil and CX717 in promoting wakefulness and quality sleep.

What is interesting is that most sleeping pills currently on the market only promote shallow stage 2 sleep which is much less restorative than “slow wave” sleep – which is why people who take sleeping pills sleep but rarely feel rested when they wake up. Somehow Modafinil allows users to stay awake for extended periods of time without accumulating “sleep debt,” allowing for quality sleep after the wakefulness period and without any of the side effects of traditional stimulants (e.g.; the he jitters, euphoria and eventual crash that come after caffeine).

You can read the full article at:
www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925391.300;jsessionid=MKKILCABJJLM