As We Age, What Types of Changes in Our Sleep

question 167

Essay

As we age, what types of changes in our sleep patterns can we expect?

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Definitions:

Atrophy

A decrease in the size of a tissue or organ due to disease, injury, or lack of use, leading to a reduction in function.

Action Potentials

Electrical impulses that travel along the membrane of a neuron or muscle cell, enabling the transmission of signals within and between cells.

Sarcomere

The basic functional unit of striated muscle fibers, responsible for muscle contraction, delineated by Z lines.

Myosin Myofilaments

Myosin myofilaments are thick filaments found in muscle cells that, along with actin filaments, play a key role in the muscle contraction process by sliding past each other.