Sleep and Aging: A Research-Based Guide to Sleep in Later Life.

SLEEP AND AGING: A Research-Based Guide to Sleep in Later Life. By Dr. Kevin Morgan, MD. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 151 pp. $27.50

Though the subject has long been a subject of comment and wonder, it is only in the last 60 years that sleep has begun to be studied as an independent process, rather than as merely the vehicle for dreams or as the passive interruption of daily activity. The fascination with dream analysis continues, but scientists now are directing their attention to the study of what measurably takes place when the brain and body apparently are at rest.

Once thought to be a state analogous to a deserted and darkened building, sleep now seems to be as much a period of activity, albeit differing in kind and degree, from that occurring during periods of wakefulness. The study of sleep, as 'Sleeping and Aging" argues, has a particular relevance for the aged. It tums out that that proverbial "sleeps like a babe" is all too true. As we age, we sleep for shorter periods, sleep less deeply, are increasingly sensitive to noise and other disturbances, and tend to nap during the day to compensate for sleep lost during the night.

As Kevin Morgan, MD, the author, notes: 'Laboratory studies using EEG and other measures show age-related changes in the sleep of healthy individuals consistent with these subjective complaints. "There also are some measurable ...