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Sleep and Aging

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging

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Definition

Sleep is a reversible state characterized by immobility, decreased responsiveness to stimuli, and altered consciousness.

Overview

In Greek mythology and ancient Egypt, sleep was often likened to death. Research has since debunked the idea that sleep is a temporary death; today, scientists recognize that sleep is crucial for overall health and vitality. As Thomas Dekker (1609) put it, “Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.”

By some estimates, more than 100 million Americans regularly achieve poor sleep quality. People often intuit that poor sleep means short sleep (e.g., <7 h/night), but it is also possible for adults to sleep 8–9 h/night, feel unrefreshed, and experience excessive daytime sleepiness (Buysse 2014). Clearly, sleep quantity need not equal sleep quality, as is the case for individuals who lie in bed for 9 h a night, but have difficulty falling asleep and maintaining sleep throughout the night (i.e., poor sleep efficiency).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology and Neuroscience Department, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

    Kiersten Scott, David Hsiou & Michael Scullin

Authors
  1. Kiersten Scott
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  2. David Hsiou
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  3. Michael Scullin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Scullin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Population Division, UN Dept of Economic Social Affairs Population Division, New York, NY, USA

    Danan Gu

  2. Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Matthew E. Dupre

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Wei Zhang

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Scott, K., Hsiou, D., Scullin, M. (2019). Sleep and Aging. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_613-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_613-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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