VARIATIONS IN THRESHOLD OF AUDITORY STIMULI NECESSARY TO AWAKEN THE SLEEPER

Abstract
On the basis of variations in the threshold of auditory stimuli necessary to awaken the sleeper, it was demonstrated on 20 subjects (normal adults, normal children, and feeble-minded adults) that following the onset of sleep there is, 1st, a gradual S-shaped decrease in irritability reaching a max. in about 25 mins.; 2nd, a period of sustained low irritability of similar duration; and 3rd, a fairly rapid increase in irritability, not quite to the waking level, during the next 10 min. The whole duration of the initial depth of sleep curve is about 1 hr., and it is usually not duplicated either in length or in depth during the rest of the night''s sleep.

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