Beta Waves: The Early Stages Of Sleep

It is clear that sleep deprivation has a significant effect on academic performance. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says that a lack of sleep impacts performance by reducing concentration, creating attention deficits, slowing reaction times, increasing distractibility, impairing decision-making skills and causing forgetfulness. AASM also says that sleep-deprived people are more prone to errors. These effects can have a serious impact on test scores and on the grades students receive on class

Like in the other stages of sleep, when we doze off and transition into a more powerful, restful, and peaceful sleep is when stage 3 and 4 finally begins. So, during these stages, we are hit with the deepest parts of sleep and while we undergo high delta waves and it can occur after 30 or 40 minutes of deep sleep. Moreover, while stage 3 and 4 hold some similarity due to the nature of the high level of delta waves that are occurring throughout this stage, it allows the person to experience a wholesome and powerful sleep. Finally, during the process of REM stage, most dreams occur and brainwaves revert to being small and fast. In doing so, they consist of tons of beta waves, which can also be seen while being awake. Also, it increases the respiration rate and could cause brain

A normal night's sleep is when a person successfully goes through all five stages of sleeping. The first stage is when you are lightly sleeping and muscle activity starts slowing down a little. You then start slowing your breathing and heart rate down, as well as your body temperature. The 3rd stage is what is called deep sleep. Deep sleep is whenever your brain start to generate delta waves. The next stage is number 4. This stage is whenever your body is in a very deep sleep and your brain is producing delta waves. The last stage of sleep is the 5th. While in this stage a person may start having rapid eye movement. This is also the stage wear dreaming occurs. It is always important to get a good and full night's rest. Not sleeping can cause

It all starts off with “Stage one”. Although dreaming is rare during this period a lot happens before sleep really has begun. This is the stage where the body is between wakefulness and sleep. This stage is also sometimes referred to drowsy sleep. Breathing gradually becomes more regular, the heart rate begins to slow, the muscles in the body are still quite active, and the eyes roll around slowly and may open and close from time to time (Mastin). This all happens when, the body is preparing to go through, “Alpha and Theta, and have periods of dreaminess, almost like daydreaming, except we are beginning to fall asleep” (Walcult). Alpha and Theta are wave patterns that can be classified into two types of waves. Alpha waves are slow, and increase in amplitude, both occurring at the same time. As for Theta waves, are even slower in frequency and greater in amplitude than alpha waves. These waves are experienced throughout the day but both waves mix together once the body is at sleep. During this short period of very light, easily interrupted sleep, usually only lasting about less than ten minutes, the sleeper may be aware of sounds and conversations, but feels unwilling, rather than unable, to respond to them. A person awakened during this period will often say they have never slept at all, and feel exhausted. Typically, this stage represents only about 5% of the total sleep time (Mastin). All of

Have you ever wondered what is happening while a person is sleeping? “Sleep is the word we use to define both a biological state and a behavioral state in which we are quiet and relatively unresponsive to external stimuli” (Larson 1990). Measured when sleeping, brain waves have been identified into several distinct stages. Everyone experiences four stages of the sleep cycle, including REM (Larson 1990). This topic really interested me because it is something that every human goes through and it cannot be eliminated from a person’s life. This topic really catches my attention because everyone can experience the effects of sleep deprivation and it does not just occur in one specific person. This topic is significant to me because my grandfather has narcolepsy, a sleep disorder.

Circadian rhythm is most known for the effect on sleep and wake, but it also affects eating, hormone secretion, urination, and much more (Kalat, 2013). Circadian rhythms are endogenous, which means they are generated from within the body. When broken down into its latin roots “circum” and “dies”, circadian means about a day. This name was coined as animal circadian rhythms last about a day, or around 24 hours (Kalat, 2013). Though rhythms are around 24 hours, each individual differs in their exact rhythm. This can be seen in the difference between “morning people”, who are alert and awake early in the day, and “night owls”, who awaken at a slower pace and reach their peak alertness later in the day (Taillard, Philip, Coste, Sagaspe, & Bioulac,

The second stage of the sleep cycle is the Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM 2) sleep. This lasts about 20 minutes and is characterized by decreases in the heart rate and body temperature. In this stage, theta activity is observed. (“Stages of Sleep - Non-REM and REM Sleep Cycles | Tuck Sleep”) Any remaining alpha waves from the previous episode of wakefulness are interrupted by sleep spindles, which are bursts of high frequency activity originating from the reticular nucleus of the thalamus. (Stickgold and Walker) Muscular activity decreases and conscious awareness of the external environment disappears. NREM 1 and NREM 2 together are often referred to as light sleep. (“Stages of Sleep - Non-REM and REM Sleep Cycles | Tuck Sleep”)

The body follows a cycle called the circadian rhythm to go through waking and sleeping. The sleep cycle first starts out with a part of the hypothalamus, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, telling the pineal gland to release melatonin. This occurs when light starts to fade. As melatonin is released, beta waves start to decrease and alpha waves increase. A person is now starting to become drowsy and relaxed. Once this stage has been completed, a person moves through the four stages of sleep.

The second sleep stage is accompanied by brain waves becoming slower and eye movement stops with occasional rapid wave bursts. The third sleep stage, is with faster, smaller waves with extremely slow waves that appears interposed. At the last stage delta wave is emitted (smaller waves that appear interposed with slow wave).

There are five stages of sleep. Each one is distinguishable from the others. During the course of a night’s sleep, on average, humans cycle through all of these stages several times, usually about 4 to 6 times. Circadian rhythms in the body tell us when it is time to sleep. Before sleeping, while alert, beta waves appear on an EEG. During a state of relaxation, immediately prior to sleeping, alpha waves appear on an EEG. After drifting off into sleep, the first sleep stage begins. This is characterized by being the lightest stage of sleep, with brain waves being slow and irregular. After drifting further to slumber, the second stage begins. Body temperature drops, and both heart rate and brain waves slow down. Breathing becomes shallow as well.

There are many sleep stages people go through when resting. The first sleep stage is the theta waves, also known as light sleeping. In this stage theta waves are increasing as the alpha waves fade out to put you into light sleep. If awaken from this stage most people are unaware they were actually beginning to sleep. Secondly you move on into the second stage, which is the sleep spindles. In this stage your temperature drops, heart rate slows, and your breathing becomes flat and irregular. Sleep spindles show up on paper as quick bursts of activity in the brain that last only a few seconds. During this sleep if you are awaken you will notice you were actually asleep. Next you have sleep stage three where the delta waves come in. Delta waves are the largest and slowest waves of them all; when a person hits this stage they are in the deepest stage of sleep. Lastly REM sleep is the final stage of sleeping. During this stage the body with go back through stage three and then through stage two to increase the body’s temperature. The eyes

The first four stages are preparing the body for the last stage which is REM. These stages slow down the brain waves and stop the eye movement; stage four and three are known as delta sleep and during this stage the brain produces delta waves. Delta waves are the lowest out of the frequencies and occur during dreamless sleep. They are used to recover unavailable information that people cannot receive when they are awake. This leads to the REM cycle of sleep where all dreaming occurs. In the REM cycle the brain paralyzes our bodies so that people cannot move. When people first figured out what REM was they didn’t know that our bodies were paralyzed during the stage. The National Sleep Foundation has also been discovering more new things within this discovery. After the REM discovery, people recognized that brain activity during REM resembles wakefulness. People are paralyzed and experience no muscle movement(“National Sleep Foundation”). They have concluded that the REM stage indeed does put us through paralyzation during our sleep, but that's not the only thing our bodies do during REM. During the REM stage of sleep breathing become more irregular, more rapid, and shallow. Eyes jerk rapidly in various directions. Our blood pressure rises and heart rate increases. Our bodies are pretty much awake when we are in this stage(“What Are Dreams"). Usually someone wouldn’t expect this during sleep but this proves that our bodies are just as awake when sleeping than when they actually are awake. The brain and heart act the same way and so do our eyes (just not as slow moving). When someone is awoken during this stage they feel as if they had just experienced the dream in real life. They then realize that it was just a dream by remembering impossible things that couldn’t happen on earth. Because of this discovery of REM scientists can use this information to help figure out why we dream. Maybe they can

The majority of people have heard of REM sleep, but do not know much about it. It happens in cycles of about 90-120 minutes during our sleep and it makes up about 20-25% of an adults sleep time, but the amount of time we spend in the REM sleep cycle lowers the older we get. The brain cycles through five different phases during sleep: stages 1,2,3,4 (which are classified by their respective brain wave patterns) and REM sleep. The sleep cycle repeats itself, so one enters REM sleep several times a night. ("What Is REM Sleep?") .

body moves through this phase, the brain waves begin to slow down and the eyes remain still (Harvard). Once the brain reaches N3, it is extremely hard to wake the person. REM and NREM cycle throughout the night. There are some scientists who believe that specific patterns of these two cycles allow the body to physically and mentally recuperate more efficiently than some other

In the second stage of sleep, the brain waves slow down even more. On an EEG, the brain shows electrical activity, known as sleep spindles(Walcutt). The EEG also shows occasional bursts of rising and falling waves known as K-complexes. Along with these wave appearances, the body’s temperature begins to decrease and the muscles start to relax. Unlike in stage one where the eyes are moving horizontally back and