Which is the perfect room in the house for ideal sleep? One Tampa doctor discusses

TAMPA, Fla. - There's nothing like some good solid sack time. But where do we have to be to maximize our chances of a perfect night of sleep? 

How dark should it be? How much noise should there be? Should it be warm or cool? 

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To Dr. Abhay Sharma, beyond the type of bed, the type of pillow, and the temperature, there's one thing about sleep that will help his patients sleep more than anything else.

"A totally dark environment makes it so our brains are primed for sleep." 

At Tampa General Hospital's sleep lab, Dr. Sharma tests hundreds of patients a year to see what is preventing them from getting a great night's sleep.

There's usually no perfect answer. Sleep itself is as universal as it is mysterious. 

"We can figure out what changes happen when we don't sleep versus when we sleep," he said. "But that doesn't necessarily answer the (question) of why do we sleep?" 

Dr. Sharma says it is possible, though, to pinpoint how to improve the quality of your sleep. 

First, a completely dark room quiets all our evolutionary impulses to see light as a source of danger, and thus, we wake ourselves up when we don't want to. 

"This is something that has developed from the beginning of human existence," he said. "That light is so, so important and changes everything about how we sleep and how we feel during the day." 

Another key is noise. But your sleeping sanctuary doesn't have to be silent. Bursts of noise, like from a TV or something outside, like construction, a dog barking, or yardwork, are likely to awaken your evolutionary impulse to the potential of danger lurking. 

But your preference for white noise is okay, as is a sound machine that plays ocean or forest sounds. 

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"The brain isn't going to be affected because our brains have an amazing ability to adapt," said Sharma. "And so anything that's going on for a certain amount of time, your brain just shuts it off."

Maybe the biggest point of contention is the proper sleep temperature. He says 65 degrees to 72 degrees is ideal. If it's too warm, your mind will subconsciously think it's time to get up. 

"There is a point right before we wake up, two hours before we wake up, generally, where our bodies are trying to tell us to wake up is the lowest temperature, and we want to make sure that that is maintained." 

There are lots of X factors, though, that are personal preference. 

The type of pillow you use, the style of blanket, the sleep position, the outfit, and even whether you and your spouse stay in the same bed. That has to be weighed against whether it'll lead to other problems.

Dr. Sharma can say for sure, though, that not napping for too long and too close to bedtime, is important. 

"If you're taking it super late, then what you do is you've reset your homeostatic need, your drive for sleep, and if you change your drive for sleep, then you're fighting against the drive in the circadian rhythm." 

The key to knowing if you've had the perfect night's sleep is to not feel like you could fall back to sleep in two minutes. 

"I think the ideal scenario is that you wake up with your natural rhythm. You don't need an alarm. That's hard to do in today's society." 

Another big factor in sleep is how much anxiety you feel about the next day. If you find yourself awake at night thinking about that, it might be time to see a different kind of doctor.