Many people believe we need less sleep as we get older. This is probably not true. It seems that during infancy and in adolescence there are increases in sleep need, perhaps brought on by developmental changes. However, the best research available indicates that healthy elderly people sleep about as much as they did when they were young adults. The idea that the elderly sleep less probably comes from the fact that elders often have medical conditions that interfere with their sleep.
This is why most elderly people are 'light sleepers' at night, yet they frequently dose-off during the day. This type of light sleep and dozing pattern is what sleep researchers would expect if a person is awakened again and again while they try to sleep. In fact, research on repetitive sleep disruption, called 'sleep fragmentation', has shown that the rate of sleep disruptions determines whether or not the sleep is felt to be satisfactorily restorative, and whether or not there is proper alertness the next day. Sleep must be continuous in nature.
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