Secondary Insomnia
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is when sleeplessness is caused by another condition like mental illnesses.
Sedative
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A drug that induces sleep, reduces anxiety, or relaxes muscles.
Selective Mood Regulatory Theory
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The SMRT model proposes that sleep serves to restore the balance between positive and negative moods, allowing people to better cope with stressors encountered during the day.
Serotonin
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is an essential neurotransmitter which is useful for regulating the sleep cycle among other functions.
Sex
(Mattress Performance)
This is a measure of how good a mattress is during intimate activities. It depends on the bounce, the contouring and the edge support.
Sexsomnia
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A sleep disorder characterized by abnormal sexual behaviors while asleep. These behaviors can include touching or groping others, as well as intercourse.
Shift Work
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Shift work is a type of work schedule that requires employees to rotate through different time periods during the day, or to work outside of the traditional hours during which people are typically awake.
Shift Work Disorder
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is another type of a Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorder, also called Shift Work Sleep Disorder. It happens when your standard sleep cycle is disrupted because of changes in your daily schedule.
Siesta
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A nap taken in the early afternoon. There are many studies that suggest that this midday break improves sleep at night, reduces stress levels and blood pressure, and increases productivity for these type of people who work long hours during the day.
Sigma Wave
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
High-frequency brain waves, higher in frequency than beta waves and often associated with the concept of dreaming.
Sinkage
(Mattress Performance)
This is another word for conforming, and it shows how best the mattress molds around your body.
Sinkage
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is how much a mattress dips in when it I’d pressed for a long time.
Sleep
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A naturally recurring state of mind and body, characterized by altered consciousness, reduced muscle activity, and decreased sensory input.
Sleep Apnea
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep. These pauses can last from seconds to minutes and can occur 5 to 30 times an hour. Each episode can reduce blood oxygen levels, which may lead to awakenings.
Sleep Architecture
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A measurement and categorization of how we experience different phases and stages of our sleep. It looks at the time taken to fall asleep, the amount of deep sleep we get, and how much REM or dreaming sleep we have.
Sleep Cycle
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Sleep cycles are the natural patterns your body goes through during sleep. There are two primary types of sleep cycles: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM).
Sleep Cycle
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This cycle includes stages of REM and deep sleep, which alternate. Adults have 90 minutes for each cycle and up to five cycles per night. In one cycle, there is slow wave sleep, REM and waking up briefly.
Sleep Debt
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep; it accumulates over time. A concept that recognizes that a person's need for sleep grows with their time awake.
Sleep Deprivation
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A condition that occurs when someone does not get enough sleep. This can be either from not having enough time to sleep, from interrupted sleep, or from not getting quality sleep.
Sleep Deprivation
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is when you’re not getting enough quality sleep, and can be associated with health issues like diabetes and stroke.
Sleep Disorder
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
An abnormal pattern of sleep that can have a detrimental effect on the sleeper. Narcolepsy, for example, is a chronic neurological disorder in which sufferers experience excessive daytime sleepiness caused by abnormalities in REM-sleep regulation. Other disorders include insomnia, restless legs syndrome (RLS), and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
Sleep Gate
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A hypothesis that proposes that there is a "gate" in the brain that, once opened, allows one to fall asleep.
Sleep Hygiene
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This are sleep-related habits.
Sleep Hypopnea
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A breathing disorder that happens during sleep. In this disorder, a person's throat muscles will relax and narrow causing a breath gasping pause for 10-30 seconds while sleeping which may result in frequent nighttime arousals from sleep.
Sleep Inertia
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The feeling of grogginess and disorientation one may experience when they wake up.
Sleep Latency
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A measurement that describes how long it takes for someone to fall asleep after they lie down for bedtime.
Sleep Latency
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is a measure of how long it takes for one to fall asleep.
Sleep Learning
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The process of learning while you sleep. It's been around for a long time, but there's not a lot of evidence that it actually works.
Sleep Medication
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Type of medication that is prescribed to help people fall asleep and stay asleep. It is used to treat insomnia, which is a condition that causes difficulty falling and staying asleep.
Sleep Medicine
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A medical specialty that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders related to sleep. These disorders include insomnia, narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and others.
Sleep Onset
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The moment when a healthy individual falls asleep.
Sleep Onset Insomnia
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is a condition in which a patient has trouble falling asleep in particular. They might not have trouble getting quality sleep once they fall asleep.
Sleep Paralysis
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A phenomenon in which a person, either falling asleep or waking up, temporarily experiences an inability to move. It is usually accompanied by a sense of fear or panic.
Sleep Pattern
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The regular ebb and flow of your sleeping and wakefulness throughout a 24-hour period. Most people have a sleep pattern that repeats every day, with certain "highlights" or "peak" periods during which they sleep more than at other times.
Sleep Period
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The amount of time you spend sleeping. It's different for everyone, and can vary based on your sleep habits, age, and health. Adults generally need around 7-8 hours of sleep per night, but some people need more or less depending on their individual circumstances.
Sleep Restriction Therapy
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A type of cognitive behavioural therapy that is used to treat insomnia. The goal of sleep restriction therapy is to help people get more restful sleep by teaching them to limit the amount of time they spend in bed. People who undergo sleep restriction therapy are typically asked to go to bed only when they are tired and to get up after they have been asleep for a set number of hours. This approach helps people learn how to associate the bed with sleep and not with activities such as watching television or working on the computer.
Sleep Spindle
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Bursts of neural oscillations that happen during non-REM sleep, and they play an important role in the process of memory consolidation.
Sleep Stages
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The changes in brain activity that occur as a person goes from being awake to falling asleep and from being asleep to waking up. Most people go through four sleep stages.
Sleep Start
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A disorder in which episodes of sudden and involuntary muscular activity occur during the first stage of sleep, or during daytime naps.
Sleep State Misperception
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
It's when you think you're awake when in fact you're deeply asleep.
Sleep Terror
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A disorder characterized by sudden, brief episodes of intense fear during the transition to REM sleep.
Sleep Time
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The amount of time a person spends asleep. It can be measured either by the number of hours a person spends sleeping or by the number of sleep cycles a person completes.
Sleep Tracker Bullet Journal
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is the practice of recording hours of sleep with a notebook. It is an analog method with the purpose of making sleep a purposeful focus.
Sleep-Disordered Breathing
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A term that refers to a variety of conditions that can interfere with normal breathing during sleep. These conditions can include episodes of shallow breathing (hypopnea) and pauses in breathing (apnea).
Sleep-Maintenance Insomnia
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Difficulty staying asleep throughout the night. It can be caused by a number of factors, including stress, anxiety, or environmental noise.
Sleep-Onset Insomnia
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Difficulty falling asleep at the beginning of the night. It's usually caused by anxiety, stress, and caffeine use.
Sleep-Related Eating Disorder
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A condition in which people eat while they are asleep. They may walk around in their sleep and make noise, and sometimes they even cook food. People with SRED often don't remember what they have done the next day.
Sleep-Sex
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Also known as sexsomnia, is a rare sleep disorder that causes people to engage in sexual acts while they are asleep.
Sleep-Talking
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A disorder that causes people to talk in their sleep. It can be benign and cause no harm, but in some cases it can be related to other disorders.
Sleep-Wake Cycle
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The natural rhythm that our bodies follow over the course of a day. This rhythm is dictated by our internal biological clock, or circadian rhythm, and it tells our bodies when to sleep and when to wake up.
Sleep-Wake Homeostasis
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The scientific term for the body's natural tendency to seek equilibrium or balance in its sleep and wake states. This tendency is driven by several factors, including hormones, neurotransmitters, and circadian rhythms.
Sleep-Walking
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Also known as somnambulism, is a parasomnia disorder in which people do not realize they are asleep and can perform behaviors such as dressing and eating even though they're asleep.
Sleeping Sickness
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
See "narcolepsy".
Slow-Wave Sleep
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Also known as deep sleep, is a stage of NREM sleep characterized by the presence of slow oscillations in the brain wave activity. It is the deepest stage of sleep and is thought to be vital for the consolidation of new memories and for restoring physical and emotional health.
Slow-Wave Sleep
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is also called deep sleep or Non-REM sleep. It consists of stages N1, N2 and N3 previously explained in this glossary. During this time, the body temperature lowers a little and brain waves become slower.
Snore
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A natural reflex that happens when the muscles in the throat relax while we sleep, allowing our airway to narrow. The narrowing of the airway causes airflow turbulence, which makes a noisy sound.
Somnambulism
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
See "sleep-walking".
Somniloquy
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
See "sleep-talking".
Somnipathy
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
See "sleep disorder".
Somniphobia
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
See "hypnophobia".
Somnolence
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
See "excessive daytime sleepiness".
Spielman Model
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is a model used to explain chronic insomnia, and is generally accepted. There are three pillars of the model which include predisposing factors, precipitating triggers and perpetuating habits.
Spinal Alignment
(Mattress Performance)
This shows the position of the spine compared to the way it’s supposed to be, and how it’s aligned to the rest of the body.
Spinal Cord
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A long, thin bundle of nerve tissue that runs down the back. It's about 18-22 inches long in adults and contains bundles of nerve cells that carry messages between the brain and the rest of the body.
Stage 1 Sleep (NREM1)
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Sleep state in which adults naturally cycle from sleep to wakefulness and vice versa. It's characterized by a decrease in beta brain waves and an increase of alpha waves, with a corresponding slowing of neural activity along with eye movement stoppages.
Stage 2 Sleep (NREM2)
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A stage of sleep characterized by relatively low levels of brain activity, as measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG). It occupies 45-55% of total sleep in adults and is considered a transition stage between light sleep and deep sleep.
Stage 3 Sleep (NREM3)
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The third stage of the non-rapid eye movement sleep. With each successive stage, levels of nerve impulses decline until finally they disappear altogether, and we awaken. Brain activity slows back to what would be seen as "normal" waking level.
Stage 4 Sleep (NREM4)
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
Slow-wave sleep is the division of sleep that occurs during a roughly 90 minute period early in the night. In this stage, both brain waves and muscle activity are at their lowest levels, while blood pressure decreases and body temperature rises.
Stimulant
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A drug that temporarily increases mental or physical activity. Stimulants are often used to treat conditions like ADHD, narcolepsy, and obesity.
Stimulus Control Therapy
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that is used to treat chronic insomnia. The goal of the therapy is to help the person to associate the bed with sleep, and to reduce the amount of time spent in bed awake. The therapist will work with the person to create a list of rules for sleeping, such as avoiding napping and caffeine before bed, and going to bed at the same time each night. The therapist will also help the person to develop strategies for dealing with nighttime awakenings, such as getting out of bed and doing a quiet activity until they feel sleepy again.
Supima
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
This is a trademark you can find on beddings that are made with American-grown Pima cotton. It is a non-profit organization that gives out these licenses.
Support
(Mattress Performance)
This is a measure of how well a mattress keeps up your body and ensures a neutral spinal position while you lay down. The main pillar of support of a mattress is the core, and contouring is also important.
Support Factor
(Mattress Performance)
This is used to compare the amount of force needed to compress the materials like foam or latex to a particular degree. A higher support factor means the mattress offers better support and top quality, although manufacturers don’t usually announce the value.
Support Foam
(Foam Mattress)
This is high-density foam made of firm polyfoam. It is usually found in the mattress core.
Support Layer
(Mattress Construction)
This is also called the mattress core or the base layer, this is the thickest part of the comfort system. The support layer is usually made up of polyfoam or innerspring coils, although air chambers and latex are found in fewer mattresses.
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
The part of the brain that controls our circadian rhythm. The SCN coordinates with special cells in our eyes to regulate all sorts of things, including when we sleep and wake up, how much energy we use during the day versus at night, whether it's time to release hormones like cortisol or insulin, and what parts of the brain are more active than others.
Sustainable Furnishings Council
(Mattress Standards and Certification)
This is an organization consisting of retailers and manufacturers, including those in the mattresses market. They are focused on promoting sustainable practices and eco-friendliness.
Synapse
(Miscellaneous Terms Related to Sleep and Mattresses)
A structure that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron. Synapses are essential for communication within the nervous system.
Synthetic Latex
(Latex Mattress)
This is artificial latex, made from petrochemicals. Although they are more affordable, they also last less then natural latex.