Sound reasons for unsound sleep: Comparative support for the sentinel hypothesis in industrial and nonindustrial groups

ABSTRACT: Abstract

Background and objectives

Sleep is a vulnerable state in which individuals are more susceptible to threat, which may have led to evolved mechanisms for increasing safety. The sentinel hypothesis proposes that brief awakenings during sleep may be a strategy for detecting and responding to environmental threats. Observations of sleep segmentation and group sentinelization in hunter-gatherer and small-scale communities support this hypothesis, but to date it has not been tested in comparisons with industrial populations characterized by more secure sleep environments.

Methodology

Here, we compare wake after sleep onset (WASO), a quantitative measure of nighttime awakenings, between two nonindustrial and two industrial populations: Hadza hunter-gatherers (n = 33), Ma

SUBMITTER:  

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10024786 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature