Rapid Eye Movement Cycles

Everyone knows what sleep is but do they know what it really is? Sleep by definition is the process in which humans and other animals periodically rest, with greater or lesser degrees of unconsciousness and decreased responsiveness to the surrounding world. With the mentioning of consciousness, it is known that our brain is still active while we sleep and has its own biological rhythm. This rhythm includes four distinct stages that repeat

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).

Not many courses introduce the idea of sleep, so it had only been a side interest. I was unaware of the seriousness of the problem and only wanted to understand sleep disorders because I’ve dealt with insomnia myself. Not until college did it occur to me that sleep was serious enough that studying sleep was a profession. However, school has only taught me the minimal basics of sleep. I wanted to understand the mechanism, the consequences, and the treatments for sleep. Unable to get a better idea of sleep, I aimed to learn more about sleep research. Eventually through graduate research, I would like to focus on understanding sleep and its application in improving health.

The average human spends about 25 years of their life sleeping. That is equal to one-third of a person’s life. So if sleep is vital and common among every single human, what do you know about it? What happens when we sleep (Attention Grabber)? Before the 1950s, scientists believed that the brain would just “shut off” when we would go to sleep. It wasn’t until the discovery of the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) state that scientists really looked into what happens in the brain while we are asleep. Studies have found that we go through a cycle of stages during sleep, and it is important for our health (Orientation to Topic). Today, I am going to inform you about what really happens when we sleep, and some issues that are found among it (Specific Purpose). In order to really understand this worldwide commonality, you need to know some background on sleep, the stages in the cycle, and some common disorders (Central Idea). I have taken a year long psychology course that went into depth on sleep psychology, and I have done extensive research on the topic to better grasp it (Statement of Credibility). I want to inform you on sleep so you can understand what happens when you close your eyes every night, and so you can detect any irregularities in your sleep pattern (Statement of Goodwill). First, I will give a background of why and how we know to sleep, then I will explain the stages in the sleep cycle, and finally I will tell you about some common disorders (Preview).

We dream every day. Sometimes people remember what they dream, and sometime people forget what they dream about. There is a possibility of forgetting the dreams by the time a person gets out of bed. It is thought that everyone dreams between 3 to 6 times per night, and it lasts between 5 to 20 minutes. A dream is something that we experienced during sleep. Our dream can include images, thoughts, and emotions. It can be vivid or very confusing. Images in a dream are sometimes symbols for things in everyday life. As compared to men, women dream about family, children, and indoor settings. However, there are many

Generally, individuals need seven to nine hours of sleep each night to function properly throughout the day; it is thought that over sixty-eight percent of people get less than eight hours of sleep (Hughes & Rogers, 2004). The circadian rhythm is what facilitates our sleep cycles and determines when we go to sleep; there is two types of sleep REM and Non-REM sleep (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2016). Non-REM sleep is typically the antecedent for REM sleep, here rapid eye movement occurs and this is where dreams occur (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2016). There are five stages of sleep that each person goes through each time they sleep, in non-REM sleep, there are four stages and REM is the fifth stage (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2016). Stage one consists of the transition from feeling wake to “falling asleep”, this typically lasts one to seven minutes (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2016). Here the individual experiences loss of response to stimuli and experience waves of thoughts and images (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2016). Stage two of non-REM sleep is the

Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Arousal Disorders (NREM sleep arousal disorders) has six diagnostic criteria. The first criterion requires individuals to present recurrent episodes of incomplete awakening from sleep, that includes sleepwalking or sleep terrors. The second criteria require individuals to present no or little dream imagery that is remembered. The next two criteria require individuals to present amnesia for the episodes and the episodes to cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The fifth requirement is that the disturbance is not caused by substance use. The last requirement is that coexisting

Fifth Stage REM Rapid-Eye-Movement Sleep, while in REM breathing rates, brain activity increases and decreases, and brain waves are faster and smaller. Paradoxical sleep or active sleep refer to REM the reason for this is because brain, body become heightened and muscle movements are restrained but can twitch this is so dreams are not acted out. REM can last for up to fifteen min. From stage one NREM to REM sleep has taken about ninety min. For the rest of the night’s sleep cycle, it bounces between NREM and REM.

Sleep is one of the unavoidable daily-living activities and it is one of the most important factors contributing to a person’s health. A quality sleep is essential for the physical, cognitive and psychological well-being of a person. Learning, memory processing and maintenance of the brain are among the most important functions of sleep. In addition to maintaining the brain, sleep has important roles in controlling the

Sleep is undoubtedly one of the most essential requirements for the human body to function properly. It plays a very important role in ensuring the wellness of the human body both physically as well as mentally. In fact, the importance of sleep is clear from the fact that it helps you in maintaining a good lifestyle throughout our entire lifetime. Not only does it help maintain our physical and mental health; rather it also helps in maintaining a decent and healthy lifestyle along with ensuring safety from a number of fatal diseases. It is usually said that the mood in which you wake up is largely dependent on the type of sleep you have been in. This in itself is a big proof of the importance of sleep in our lives. While sleeping, our body finally gets its share of rest and it also gets ample time in rejuvenating from all the wear and tear that it went through during the entire day. Not only this, the body is in its own working condition when we are sleeping as this is the time when it supports the healthy functioning of the brain as well as physical attributes of our body.

We tend to think of sleep as a time when the mind and body shut down. But this is not the case; sleep is an active period in which a lot of important processing, restoration, and strengthening occurs. Exactly how this happens and why our bodies are programmed for such a long period of slumber is still somewhat of a mystery. But scientists do understand some of sleep's critical functions, and the reasons we need it for optimal health and wellbeing.

When people sleep their brain’s activity changes in characteristic ways over the course of one night. These sleep patterns are classified into two main kinds of sleep – rapid-eye movement or REM and non-rapid eye movement or NREM sleep. REM sleep is most often associated with dreaming and it is thought that it assists in brain development especially in the early stages

What is sleep? The dictionary definition of sleep is as follows, “a condition of body and mind such as that which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended,” (Definition). While this is undoubtedly true, there is so much more on the mystery of sleep. For many years people have wondered and debated on why humans sleep. There used to be many theories on why humans slept. With more advanced technology and stronger research many have been ruled out. In today’s society there are three commonly accepted, but debated, theories on

Sleep is a natural state of unconsciousness characterized by unresponsiveness to stimuli, as well as an apparent consolidation of memories10. It is an actively regulated process in which neuron activity is reorganized5. Sleep is divided into two phases, Rapid Eye Motion (REM) and Non-Rapid Eye Motion (NREM) (also known as slow wave sleep (SWS)) 6.SWS is further composed of 4 levels of sleep. These levels produce theta and delta wavelengths on an electroencephalogram (EEG). Furthermore, the waves increase in amplitude and decrease in frequency with the succession of each stage 10. These stages dominate the earlier part of the sleep period then decrease in

According to Dr. Michael J. Breus (2015), nightmares are defined as terrifying dreams that result in awakening from sleep. Most people rarely experience nightmares, which results from triggers such as stress and traumatic experiences, and can be side effects of some medications, drug and alcohol abuse, and illness. Nightmares can contribute to insomnia, daytime fatigue, depression, and anxiety. Nightmares and terrors often occur in childhood and take place during non-REM sleep. According to the American Psychological Association, a child experiencing nightmares appears “terrified and is inconsolable, with