NREM Sleep

Sleep is important for our health and well-being. Extensive research has been done on the effects of sleep. These studies consistently show that sleep plays a vital role in promoting physical health, longevity, and emotional well-being. This explains why, after a good night's sleep, we feel better, our thoughts are clearer, and our emotions are less fragile. Without adequate sleep our judgment, mood, and ability to learn and retain information are weakened.

Introduction: I’m sure everyone likes sleep. Everyone needs sleep to keep the least bit active through out there day. Sleep is an important factor for your body to restore energy. Sleeping is a time to rest your body from all the hard work you have done. It is relaxing so deeply that you lose consciousness of your surroundings.

It is no secret that, similar to other animals, sleep is one of the most important things for a human being’s overall health. According to Watson and Breedlove, there are four main biological/neurological functions of sleep: energy conservation—the body uses less energy when it is asleep through what is called slow-wave sleep (SWS) by doing things such as reducing body temperature and slowing respiration; niche adaptation—the environmental happenings to which organisms are adapted to; body restoration—it restores materials used during awake hours; and memory consolidation—SWS and REM sleep help the brain consolidate memories from the previous day (2012).

These stages are characterized by bursts of electrical activity on electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. EEG readings monitor electrical activity representing neuronal activity in specific neurophysiological regions. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is characterized by desynchronized, saw-toothed theta rhythm waves and heightened cognitive activity. Comparatively, high amplitude, synchronous delta waves, and sharp hippocampal waves characterize slow wave sleep (SWS) sleep (stages 3-4 of non-REM sleep) (Tucker et al. 2006).

There are five phases of sleep in a sleep cycle; phase 1 – light sleep with slow movement of eye which forms 4-5% of total sleep, phase 2 – eye movement stops and brain waves becomes slower which forms 45-55%of total sleep, phase 3 – extremely slow brain waves which comprises 4-6% of total sleep, phase 4 -deep sleep phase with no eye movement or muscle activity which forms 12-15% of total sleep, and phase 5- it is also called REM sleep where breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, and it forms 20-25% of total sleep time (Nichols, 2017).

During the first hour of sleep, brain waves slow down, and the eyes and muscles relax. Heart rate, temperate, and blood pressure fall as well. Over time, however, brain activity drastically increases from slow wave sleep to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and brain waves observed during REM are similar to those observed during waking. However, atonia occurs, which is when the body’s muscles are paralyzed, the muscles that allow breathing and control eye movements are fully active, and heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature increase. As sleep continues, the brain alternates between periods of slow wave sleep. It’s divided into four stages. Stage 1, the brain activity is unsynchronized. Stage 2, our breathing, heartbeat, and brain activity become slower. Stage 3, our breathing, pulse, and brain activity is slower yet, and brain activity is synchronized. Stage 4 of sleep, our breathing, pulse, and brain activity is the slowest, and brain activity is highly synchronized. Brain activity is increased with each stage and brief periods of REM sleep, with the slow wave sleep becoming less deep and the REM periods more prolonged until you are woken. Approximately 20 percent of a person’s total sleep is spent in REM

the deep sleep that occurred during the first hour after going to sleep.This sleep is exceedingly restful and is associated with decrease in both peripheral vascular tone and many other vegetative functions of the body. For instance, there are 10 to 30 per cent decreases in blood pressure, respiratory rate, and basal metabolic rate.Although slow-wave sleep is frequently called “dreamless sleep,”dreams and sometimes even nightmares do occur during slow-wave sleep. The difference between the dreams that occur in slow- wave sleep and those that occur in REM sleep is that those of REM sleep are associated with

Rapid Eye Movement(REM) has been correlated with dreams and sleep physiology. It has been tracked by brain waves and muscle movements. Non-Rem(NREM) sleep is the first phase which occurs for 1-7 minutes and the easiest to be interfered with. The brain begins firing betawaves every 15-30 seconds. After a while the person becomes asleep and breathing regularly between 6-8 seconds in the second stage. The heart rate begins to slow down and so does the blood pressure. In the third stage there are more thetawaves along with sleep spindles(sigma waves) and k-waves. Most of the noise are lock out and the heart rate and blood pressure are decreasing. In the fourth phase there are thetawaves in the appearance of delta waves firing at 1-5 seconds. The last and final stage, the person is in their deepest sleep and it is very difficult to wake up. The heart rate and blood pressure are at their lowest and the delta wave are blasting every 1-5 seconds.

With this in mind, a person’s heart rate slows, and they begin to rest and recharge after a long day. When this person finally dozes off, they undergo cycles of non-REM and REM sleep. Non-REM sleep comes early in sleep and contains deeper, more restful sleep. Dream filled REM sleep comes late in the night and when all dreams occur. Dreams in REM sleep can last anywhere from a few seconds to forty-five minutes long. The transition between the two cycles happens at the same time for each person, regardless of bedtime. The time of this switch between cycles differs for each person. This is the reason for not forcing sleep. This results in a healthy balance of non-REM and REM sleep balance

This stage is believed to help people enter deeper stages of sleep (4). Stage 3 sleep consists of 20-50 percent delta activity and stage 4 sleep of more than 50 percents delta activity (4). Stages 3 and 4 are characterized as being slow wave sleep in addition to being the deepest levels of sleep. Approximately 90 minutes after being asleep, people enter rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (4). REM sleep consists of rapid eye movements, a desynchronized EEG, sensitivity to external stimulation, muscle paralysis and dreaming (4).

There are 4 basic stages of sleep and then you reach Rapid Eye Movement Sleep or REM. The first stage of sleep is when you’re slightly sleepy or starting to doze off. Basically, you’re lightly asleep but at the same time still alert. When this happens, your brains starts producing alpha and theta waves and the movement of your eyes begin to slow down. The second stage is still relatively considered a light sleep. The only differences is that your brain’s wave frequency suddenly increases and slows down. This stage of sleep is considered the best time to wake up when trying to take “power naps.” When waking up at this stage, you’ll feel refreshed and not groggy upon waking up. In stages three and four, we begin deep sleep. The brain would produce

While "quiet" sleep, a person proceeds through four stages of increasingly deep sleep. Body temperature decreases, muscles relax, and heart rate and breathing slow down. The longest stage of quiet sleep affects physiological changes that help support immune system functioning. The other sleep level, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, is the stage at people dream. Body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing increase to levels estimated during people are attentive. Studies detail that REM sleep enhances learning and memory, and offers to emotional

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?") .

Non-REM sleep is a much deeper, more restful kind of sleep. In non-REM sleep, the person’s body is free to move around. Non-REM dreams are more likely to consist of brief, fragmentary impressions that are less emotional and less likely to involve visual images than REM sleep dreams and are more frequently forgotten. The period of Non-REM sleep is made up of four stages. Each stage can last from 5 to 15 minutes. A completed cycle of sleep consists of a progression from stages 1-4 before REM sleep is attained, then the cycle starts over again. People begin the sleep cycle with a period of non-REM sleep followed by a very short period of REM sleep (Chang, 2010).

A typical night’s sleep is much more complicated than just closing your eyes and waking in the morning. As humans, we live our life on a circadian rhythm. This means that changes occur roughly based upon a 24-hour basis. This circadian rhythm plays a major role in when we get tired and decide it’s time to sleep. This rhythm is theorized to have helped us stay safe thousands of years ago. We would fall asleep during the time that their seemed to be threats roaming around in the dark. to Once we finally get to sleep, our brains and bodies are doing much more than laying in complete stillness. There are five distinct stages of sleep that we experience as we sleep. Each is uniquely different and serves a purpose throughout the night. The first stage of sleep is a very light sleep that lasts for 5 to 10 minutes. During this stage of sleep, you may not even realize that you’re sleeping. While in this stage of sleep our brains power down by 50 percent and produce theta waves four to seven times per second. We proceed to stage two after this. During stage two, our brains power down