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SLEEP­ex­pert is based on two fun­da­men­tal pro­ces­ses of sleep regu­la­ti­on: sleep-wake beha­vi­or (home­o­sta­tic) and dai­ly rhythm (cir­ca­di­an).

A suf­fi­ci­ent peri­od of wakeful­ness is neces­sa­ry to build up enough sleep pres­su­re to initia­te and main­tain sleep. This is sup­port­ed by a cir­ca­di­an decli­ne in the wake-promoting signal in the late evening (decre­a­sing evening wake main­ten­an­ce zone). Con­ver­se­ly, toward the end of the night and ear­ly mor­ning, a cir­ca­di­an sleep-promoting signal helps main­tain sleep (sleep main­ten­an­ce pha­se). Healt­hy sleep results from the inter­ac­tion of the­se two processes—sufficient sleep pres­su­re and ali­gnment with an appro­pria­te cir­ca­di­an pha­se.