Sleep Onset Research Paper

The first stage of sleep is call N1. N1 is the stage between sleep and wakefulness. In this cycle, your brain produces Theta waves. Hypnogogic Hallucinations are also present during this phase. Hypnogogic Hallucinations are strange sensations that occur when you hear or see something that is not there. For example, if you watched the movie Frankenstein before you fall asleep, you might see the monster Frankenstein when falling asleep.

Studies have shown that sleep disturbances are extremely common in individuals that suffer from PTSD as well as those that suffer from primary insomnia. Although a few studies have been done separately that show the consequences of sleep disturbance in PTSD patients and Insomnia patients, there is little known about how they differ. Some sleep problems reported in PTSD are very similar to those of primary insomnia, but issues that are unique to PTSD suggest that conditions may be worse or different than they are for insomniacs. These additional factors may contribute to sleep variability more heavily due to the fact that it could cause sleep patterns to be unpredictable and different from patient to patient

In deep sleep there are no eye movement or any kind of muscle activity. This is when some children experience bedwetting, sleepwalking, and or has night terrors. In 2008 the sleep professionals eliminated the use of stage 4. And stages 3 & 4 are what most people experience. Slow waves sleep comes mostly in the first half of your sleep. (REM) is the second half. Walking may occur after (REM) if the walking period is long enough, the person may remember it the next morning. Infants spend almost 50% of their time in (REM) sleep. Adults spend nearly half of their sleep in stage 2, older adults spend less time in their (REM) sleep.

Dreams have a lengthy record of being a subject for debate and a source of motivation. In ancient Egypt, pharaohs had several interpreters to decipher their dreams as they believed they were messages from the gods (Lincoln, 1935, p.68). The ancient Hebrews believed that their dreams were tied to divine revelations as well. Native American tribes believed that dreams were a connection to their ancestors and used obtaining a vision from a dream as a rite of passage (Tedlock, 1981, p.324). In the present day, every night all across the world, people still experience sequences of imagery encompassed by sensations and emotions while asleep. The average person tends to dream up to seven times a night

The stages of non-REM sleep, stages 1–3, are defined by EEG activity. Slow-wave sleep in stage 3 is the deepest stage of sleep. Alertness consists of desynchronized beta activity (13–30 Hz); relaxation and drowsiness consist of alpha activity (8–12 Hz); stage 1 sleep consists of alternating periods of alpha activity, irregular fast activity, and theta activity (3.5–7.5 Hz); the EEG of stage 2 sleep lacks alpha activity but contains sleep spindles (short periods of 12–14 Hz activity) and occasional K complexes; stage 3 sleep primarily consists of delta activity. About 90 minutes after the beginning of sleep, people enter REM sleep. Thereafter, cycles of REM and non-REM sleep occur in periods of approximately 90 minutes. Muscle tone decreases throughout the stages, resulting in deepest relaxation and paralysis in REM sleep (Carlson & Birkett, p. 268).

Although scientists are unsure why we sleep, they do know how sleep works. There are two phases of sleep: Rapid Eye Movement (REM sleep), and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM sleep). These phases help form whole sleep cycles, and a complete cycle lasts around ninety to a hundred ten minutes. If you sleep for eight hours, you will go through about five cycles every night. During these cycles, you are mostly in NREM sleep. REM sleep only lasts for about ten minutes of the cycle. However, as the night progresses, NREM sleep decreases and REM sleep increases. Every cycle of sleep has five stages. In stage one, you will get NREM sleep. You begin to lose muscle tone, which causes twitches and hypnic jerks. You also have hypnagogic hallucinations and

Non-REM sleep has 4 stages as it is the longest level of sleep. Each stage has certain characteristics and patterns of brain wave activity. REM sleep is a stage associated with dreaming. Motor neurons are inhibited to avoid acting out the responses while actively dreaming. However, the eye muscles are not inhibited for unknown reasons which allow the eyes to move rapidly which explains why it is called REM sleep. Sometimes parts of the brain can be more active and random than when it is awake but it varies with the intensity of the

There are so many different issues associated with sleeping. Just to name a few different sleep issues are sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, jet lag, and narcolepsy. Most people have some sort of trouble of sleeping but when it becomes an ongoing issue this is when it is time to consult with a doctor. Problems that are ongoing or reoccurring are called sleep disorders. Sleep disorders can affect your everyday life and can lead to serious problems. Not getting enough sleep can have a negative impact on your energy, emotional balance, and health. In the article, Sleep Disorders and Sleeping Problems it states, “According to the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research, at least 40 million American’s suffer from chronic, long term

In the first hour of sleep the brain quickly sinks into the deepest rest period of the night. During this time of NREM sleep (non-rapid eye movement sleep) the body is truly at rest. The brain is never at rest but satisfies itself at this stage with partial, vague thoughts and images. Sleepwalking and night terrors may occur during this stage. All Stage 2, 3, and 4 sleep is NREM.

You must have heard about the connection between a good night’s sleep and a healthy productive day, tons of times. Understandably so, because these two things are related to each other like two sides of the same coin, you cannot have one without the other. So the big picture question is simple, how to achieve the perfect sleep every night, so that you wake up every morning, fresh, fit, and raring to go to do everything that you are supposed to do? The answer, is simple, and it is that you need to follow a few important rules to constantly sleep like a baby every night and have a fantastic morning, resulting in an amazing day. So without further ado, let’s take a look at those tips.

NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep occurs during first 90 minutes of sleep and is passing time through the four stages of the NREM cycle (Feldman, 2015). All the stages of NREM sleep each have specialized sleep-wave patterns occurring to what stage of sleep one is in. Lasting only a few short minutes, stage 1 sleep is the transition period between wakefulness and sleep (2015). Many college students create the golden “winding down effect”, eyes drooping and phasing in and out of “I was not sleeping; I just closed my eyes for a little” during stage 1. The level of difficulty to awaken from sleep increases exponentially when entering stage 2 of the NREM cycle. The brain waves in this stage develop slow, regular patterns with “…momentary interruptions

NREM-1, non-Rapid Eye Movement stage one waves. It’s in this first stage of sleep your brain starts producing theta waves and you might experience hypnagogic sensations-those brief moments when you feel like hearing or seeing things that aren’t there, or like your body is falling, etc.

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”)

In order to maintain the function and health of the body it requires sleep. In the 1920’s, scientists believed that the brain would go into an inactive state during sleep. In 1929, the invention of the EEG (electroencephalogram) allowed scientists to view the brain activity in a more indepth way. The EEG now can measure eye movements and muscle activity. REM and NREM are the two types of sleep (Harvard). REM, or rapid-eye-movement, is also known as “active sleep”. Sleep experts believe the brain dreams during this phase of sleep. This phase of sleep temporarily paralyzes our arms and legs so that we do not harm ourselves while acting out our dreams. NREM, or non-rapid-eye-movement, has three different stages: N1, N2, and N3. As the

Sleep in humans can be categorised into two types of sleep, rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep which can be characterised by rapid eye movements and Non-REM sleep. Non-REM sleep can be further categorised into sleep stages 1-4 (S1-4) which relates to the depth of sleep. The deeper sleep you are in the less responsive you are to external stimuli. S3 and S4 are what is known as slow wave sleep which can be characterised by slow wave