Abstract
Basics of Sleep research is a comprehensive syllabus which considers sleep and its functions and describes the processes that occur in the brain during sleep.

Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this continuing education unit, you should be able to:

• Define and discuss the word “sleep”
• Identify and discuss just “what goes on” in our brains and bodies when we sleep
• Identify and explain the various methods for tracking brain activity during sleep
• Explain what is meant by the phylogeny of sleep
• Describe how sleep differs between animals/man, the young and the old

Basics of Sleep Behavior
All of us know what sleep is. We know how it feels. The meaning of the word is generally not questioned in ordinary conversation, and we do not have to look it up in the dictionary.