Calling Professor Russell Foster having no clue was a little bit harsh, sorry about that.
I wanted to point out that a biphasic sleep pattern (which is also a polyphasic sleep-pattern) is the natural way to sleep.
Due to the segmented sleep (at least 90 minutes between sleeps) the body produces prolactin, which makes the first sleep have more SWS and the second sleep more REM, therefore you sleep more efficiently and get along with less sleep:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9709935
I wanted to point out that a biphasic sleep pattern (which is also a polyphasic sleep-pattern) is the natural way to sleep.
Due to the segmented sleep (at least 90 minutes between sleeps) the body produces prolactin, which makes the first sleep have more SWS and the second sleep more REM, therefore you sleep more efficiently and get along with less sleep: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9709935
In this article Professor Russell Foster even admits, that a biphasic sleepcycle is the norm: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783
study about natural biphasic sleepcicle in winter: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10607034
this study suggests that monophasic sleeping was introduced with artificial light: http://web.archive.org/web/20110629110723/http://www.history...