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A microsleep is an episode of sleep which may last for a fraction of a second or up to thirty seconds. Often, it is the result of sleep deprivation, mental fatigue, depression, sleep apnea, hypoxia, narcolepsy, or hypersomnia. Microsleeping can occur at any time, typically without significant warning.

Symptoms
Microsleeps often occurs when a person loses sleep to do repetitive work. People who experience microsleeps usually remain unaware of them. Instead they believe that they have been awake the whole time or have temporarily lost focus.

Hazards
Microsleeps (or microsleep episodes) become extremely dangerous when occurring during situations which demand constant alertness, such as driving a motor vehicle or working with heavy machinery.

Driving
A person operating an automobile, who experiences an episode of microsleep, will suddenly realize that several seconds have passed by unnoticed. It is not obvious to the driver that he or she was asleep during those missing seconds. The sleeping driver is at very high risk for having an accident during a microsleep episode.

Controversy
There is little agreement on how best to identify microsleep episodes. Some experts define microsleep according to behavioral criteria (head nods, drooping eyelids, etc.), while others rely on EEG markers. One study at the University of Iowa defined EEG-monitored microsleeps in driving simulation as "a 3–14 second episode during which 4–7 Hz (theta) activity replaced the waking 8–13 Hz (alpha) background rhythm."