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Encoding and Sleep

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Acquisition; Learning

Definition

Encoding can be defined as the neuronal activity which takes place in the brain during the acquisition or learning of a new task.

Introduction

Sleep is a type of behavior exhibited by numerous species on this planet, and although there is some variability in its individual characteristics across species, there are common patterns found in all mammals (Siegel 2009). Sleep is characterized by regularity in its occurrence around the circadian cycle. In diurnal animals such as humans, it usually takes place during the dark whereas in nocturnal animals such as rats and mice, during the light phase of the 24-h period. The duration of sleep varies depending on the type of animal, with predators enjoying more hours of sleep compared to animals that are prey. Humans are placed in the middle of this continuum, with a duration of about 8 h of sleep per night. The use of electroencephalography in the study of sleep has allowed us to discover some of its...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK

    Maria M. Hadjimarkou

Authors
  1. Maria M. Hadjimarkou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria M. Hadjimarkou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Menelaos Apostolou

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Hadjimarkou, M.M. (2018). Encoding and Sleep. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1110-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1110-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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