Polyphasic Sleep - Mike Shearer

Polyphasic sleep is a sleep schedule in which one takes several short naps throughout the day, without getting sleep in a block schedule. The purpose of this is to condition the subject's body to enter REM earlier in the sleep process. REM deprivation can lead to serious consequences, but once your body is conditioned to enter REM quicker, you can get more time out of your day seeing as you only end up sleeping about 4 -6 hours a day. Success stories cited having more vivid dreams, lucid dreams, a higher state of awareness, and more energy. Experiments have been conducted and results sway both ways. One experiment, conducted by NASA, found that longer naps were better. The Canadian Marine Pilots and the Italian Air Force conducted experiments and found that shorter naps tend to relieve sleep deprivation and reduced the total time of sleep needed each day.

This video is a polyphasic sleep experiment conducted on an artist. His brain waves are recorded 24/7, and they appear normal. He adapts reasonably quickly to the sleep schedule, and he falls into REM very quickly. He is given a sleep bonus, in which he sleeps 10 hours for just 1 day, and his performance exceeds his pre-experiment stats.