Paradoxical sleep characteristics and cultural environment. Preliminary results

The Temiars are a tribe of negroid pygmies of basically Proto-Malaysian affinities. Field-work in the Malaysian jungle provided some observations on the sleep-wakefulness cycle of two young Temiar adults. This cycle was monophasic circumstances permitting. Their rest-activity cycle at night was similar in the jungle and in the laboratory. Polygraphic total night-sleep recordings were made with both of them in the EEG laboratory in the Hospital Besar in Kuala Lumpur. The eye-movement frequencies of PS were compared with those from young adults of the West. Although the differences were not statistically significant, the Rem-densities of the Temiars were constantly at the low side. The significance of the results are being discussed.