The Dan Experiment“From nobody to somebody”

Polyphasic sleep links and scientific research

Dan on December 19th, 2005

Through all of my polyphasic sleep research I’ve had trouble finding real resources about the subject. There are tons of blogs with failed attempts plus a few successful, but not many scientific resources. Since Dr Claudio Stampi seems to be the leading researcher into polyphasic sleep I decided to search for his name on Google and see what came up. I discovered a number of news articles, interviews, and even a video of his research. Here are the links to what I found with information from Dr Stampi’s research and other sources. Please keep in mind that anything coming from blogs, news articles, and forum posts are to be taken with a grain of salt when the do not include a source for their information.

First, a tidbit of information I haven’t seen posted in other blogs. Stampi has done extensive research into competitive sailing and managing sleep. Much of his research has involved sailers or has been done aboard ships. Competitive solo sailers require a reduction in sleep in order to manage the entire ship. Multiple 1st place finishers have consulted with Stampi and followed his advice to victory.

Non-scientific research or research without correctly referenced sources
Wikipedia entry. Currently no sources and some of the information is misleading or false.
Discussion with some scientific references (be warned, no sources)
Good sleep, good learning, good life An interesting article that’s in favor of “free running sleep,” where you go to sleep when tired and wake up without an alarm. Lots of other interesting info.

Scientific resources and articles
Scientific American Frontiers episode 105. Video with Stampi polyphasic sleep experiment. A MUST WATCH!
Transcript from SAF episode
Miles to Go Before I Sleep Interview with Dr Stampi. Lots of good info, A MUST READ!
Slumber like lumber: is your busy schedule sawing your sleep time in half? Here’s how to snooze better, grow more and feel great (article)
Inteverview with Stampi from 12/16/05. Brand new but nothing new.
New Respect for the Nap, a Pause That Refreshes (article)
Sleep expert gives tips for combating fatigue (article)

Blogs and Forums
Yahoo Uberman Sleep Group
Ubersleep.com blog and forum
Polyphasicsleep.com blog, wiki, forum
Sean on Polyphasic Sleeping (blog) Some scientific references
Steve Pavlina’s Blog Polyphasic sleep has been around forever, but Steve popularized it with the blog crowd.

There are plenty of other blogs out there. I decided to include only the ones I found to be most informative. More can be found on the Wikipedia listing.

My personal conclusions
Here’s a list of conclusions I’ve made based on the above resources. The list is here to clear up some common misconceptions.

• Dr Stampi believes NREM sleep is more important than REM sleep.
• When on a 4h polyphasic sleep schedule, your sleep is not 100% REM. NREM and REM phases happen in the same ratios as normal sleep.
• Based on current sources, the only famous person who actually used polyphasic sleep is Buckminster Fuller. Many other people napped frequently, but didn’t significantly reduce night sleep.

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