The psycho-sensory wake drive—a power source for power naps and other common sleep-wake phenomena: a hypothesis

Power naps are extensively practiced worldwide and there exists ample documentation of their efficacy in reversing daytime sleepiness. The source of their efficacy, however, as well as the cause and manifestation of many other common sleep-wake phenomena, cannot be entirely explained by the most commonly accepted model of sleep-wake regulation, the two-process model of Borbély, which considers the drives of the circadian and homeostatic sleep processes only. When considering the causes and manifestations of these unexplained phenomena, there appears to be evidence of a wake-promoting drive that is independent of the circadian oscillator indicated in the two-process model of sleep-wake regulation. Although this posited secondary wake drive, herein referred to as the psycho-sensory wake drive, is always active during the awake state, its strength unpredictably varies during a normal day and, therefore, cannot be incorporated into the prevalent two-process model by any current mathematical formula. However, a supplemental graphic model superimposing it on the drives of Process S and Process C can provides plausible and parsimonious explanations for many otherwise unexplainable sleep-wake phenomena and enables rational guidelines for their effective practical management.