On average, it takes seven minutes to fall asleep. Contrary to popular belief, sleep is not a time where the body shuts down to rest. Some types of brain activity increase, and some types of hormone production increase as well. There also is no evidence that any major organs shut down, though the metabolic rate might slow down a bit.
Counting sheep facts:
- There are more than 70 known sleep disorders.
- In the United States, about 250,000 people suffer from narcolepsy, a disorder that causes extreme daytime fatigue and may cause a person to suddenly fall asleep at inappropriate times, such as as work or driving a car. More than 3 million people worldwide suffer from the disorder.
- Babies fall asleep directly into REM sleep.
- On average, people have about 1,460 dreams per year.
- The human sleep cycle averages about 90 to 110 minutes.
- The brown bat sleeps the most hours per day on average: 19.9 hours.
- The giraffe sleeps the least number of hours per day, clocking just 1.9 hours on average.