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Description Of A Night Of Sleep Essay

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Snezhana Longwell
RESP 240
September 12, 2016 During a night of sleep, we pass through 5 cycles, with 4 stages being non- rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and the last being rapid-eye movement sleep (REM). The sleep cycle follows a pattern where it starts over every 90 minutes.1 When in stage one, you are in a very light state of sleep, and you can be very easily awakened. Eye movement just starts to slow down and muscles begin to relax.2 Then entering stage two, brain waves become slower and eye movement ceases, sometimes displaying spindles on the epochs.2 During this stage your heart rate and breathing remain the same, but your body starts to cool down as your temperature begins to decrease.1 Upon entering stages 3 and 4, you enter a deep sleep and it is hard to be awakened. In stage 3, your brain waves are very slow, or known as delta waves on the epoch.2 During these stages, you begin to breath slower, your blood pressure falls, and your muscles are fully relaxed. The last and final stage is known as REM sleep, and it occurs about every 90 minutes. You start to breathe faster, your eyes move very rapidly, heart rate goes up, and muscles are paralyzed.2 This is the stage where you dream.1
Polysomnography is a sleep study test that is used to identify any sleep disorders. During the sleep study, thing such as brain waves, oxygen levels, eye movement and heart rate are recorded throughout the entire sleep.3 Snap electrodes are used to record things like heart rate

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