Polysomnography – the “gold standard” for sleep research – is a comprehensive test used to quantify sleep architecture through brain wave recordings. It also allows to monitor blood oxygen levels, respiration, heart rate, and eye and limb movement. Polysomnography is primarily used in a clinical context with typical output values of total sleep time, total wake time, sleep onset latency, and percent time spent in REM versus NREM sleep.
In the SHEL, polysomnography serves two purposes: 1) it is used to quantify REM and NREM sleep in original sleep research testing evolutionary hypotheses, and 2) it is used to validate emerging biometric devices that could potentially revolutionize sleep research in the field.