Sleep: The Baseline

I was finally able to procure an EEG device thanks to some generous benefactors*. The following summary parameters are based on data (21 datapoints total) collected using the Zeo headband and a Samsung Galaxy S running Android 2.3 between 06/10/2012 and 07/03/2012:

Total Time Spent Asleep
Mean: 387 minutes
Median: 450 minutes
Mode: 471 minutes
Range: 506 minutes
Minimum: 18 minutes
Maximum: 524 minutes
Sum: 8,125 minutes

Time Elapsed Before Falling Asleep
Mean: 18 minutes
Median: 18 minutes
Mode: 13 minutes
Range: 38 minutes
Minimum: 1 minutes
Maximum: 39 minutes
Sum: 377 minutes

Time Spent Awake
Mean: 10 minutes
Standard Error: 3
Median: 6 minutes
Mode: 0 minutes
Range: 57 minutes
Minimum: 0 minutes
Maximum: 57 minutes
Sum: 217 minutes

Time Spent in REM Sleep
Mean: 108 minutes
Median: 125 minutes
Mode: 134 minutes
Range: 154 minutes
Minimum: 5 minutes
Maximum: 159 minutes
Sum: 2,274 minutes

Time Spent in Light Sleep
Mean: 245 minutes
Median: 290 minutes
Mode: 290 minutes
Range: 320 minutes
Minimum: 13 minutes
Maximum: 333 minutes
Sum: 5,153 minutes

Time Spent in Deep Sleep
Mean: 34 minutes
Median: 28 minutes
Mode: 24 minutes
Range: 104 minutes
Minimum: 0 minutes
Maximum: 104 minutes
Sum: 708 minutes

Number of Awakenings
Mean: 3 times
Median: 3 times
Mode: 5 times
Range: 9 times
Minimum: 0 times
Maximum: 9 times
Sum: 71 times

After only a few days, I realized that I was getting much less sleep than I thought (less than 6:30 per "night") and decided to make some adjustments. I set my alarm for an hour later and purchased one of those cheap "sleep masks" from Walmart. I don't anticipate making any other large changes before starting any of my sleep experiments, so this set of data will act as something of a baseline with which to compare later data to. My first experimental intervention (having to do with sleep) will be melatonin. I plan on taking it on-and-off for at least 6 months (possibly up to a year, if that is what will be required to reach statistical significance) in order to measure its effects and will perform a cost-benefit analysis on melatonin supplementation shortly after completing the trial.

*Thanks mom and dad for the birthday present!