Sleep: Why We Need It or Do We? There are many different philosophies on how much sleep the body

This is a short article written by a collaboration of people by a company named Today’s Science. Their main goal was to describe the pattern of sleep a human goes through during the night. This cycle is called NREM and REM, non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement. They mostly describe what happens during sleep because without sleeping you could not dream. Dreaming occurs during the rapid eye movement cyc

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.

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).

Entering the second hour of sleep, brain wave activity increases and the individual enters into the first REM sleep (rapid-eye-movement sleep) period. The cycle of NREM and REM sleep is repeated throughout the night, with each REM cycle becoming longer and each NREM less deep.

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).

Sleep deprivation is often associated with hard work and you don't need to look too deeply to see why this is bs. The materials you learn during the day are consolidated by the brain when you sleep (at least 8hrs), so why should you deprive yourself of this finishing touch. Besides, it is common sense that a clear mind makes better decisions. Sleep and hard work, work hand in hand. The more or less of either you have, the more some area(s) of your life suffer(s).

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

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

REM sleep accounts for about twenty percent of total sleep time. It occurs after the four stages of non-REM sleep and is characterized by rapid eye movement. According to Mallick, it is during REM sleep that most dreaming, and the most intense dreaming occurs (8). The four stages of non-REM sleep and REM sleep occur in cycles of about 90 minutes which repeat about four or five times in a night. REM sleep happens

There are five stages of sleep, numbered one through four and REM (Rapid-Eye-Movement) sleep. Upon falling asleep, the brain and body goes through each stage to comprise sleep cycle which approximately has a duration of 90 minutes. Stage One commences when the body and brain begin to relax. During this stage, heart beat slows down, breathing becomes regular, and blood pressure tends to decrease (Huffman. K, 2011, p.174). In addition, brain activity starts to shift, moving from beta waves to the slower alpha waves. Despite being deeply relaxed in this stage, it is still very easy to be awakened (Huffman. K, 2011, p.174). Following Stage 1, the mind and body move to Stage Two. In this stage the body becomes more relaxed so it is less aware of its surroundings (Huffman. K, 2011, p.174). Short burst of rapid brain waves known as sleep spindles, “can be visually observed against the background of an electroencephalogram (EEG)” (Fogel, S. M., Nader, R., Cote, K. A., & Smith, C. T. (2007). Sleep spindles and learning potential. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121(1), 1-10). Following Stage Two, Stages Three and Four take place. These stages are much deeper levels of sleep because

Within sleep, there are two distinct states or cycles, called non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) and rapid eye movement (REM). Each state is as different from the other as it is from wakefulness. Throughout the night, you alternate between the two states over the corse of four to six cycles.

Normal sleep is characterized by a general decrease in body temperature, blood pressure, breathing rate, and most other bodily functions. In contrast, the human brain never decreases inactivity. Studies have shown that the brain is as active during sleep as it is when awake. Throughout an eight-hour sleep cycle, a normal adult alternates between two very different states, non-REM and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.

While sleeping, people undergo stages of sleep that differentiate during each phase. They are divided into 4 to 5 stages and are as follows: Stage one is the lightest level, is known as a transitional state, and is characterized as physically nodding away, being able to hear surroundings, and can easily reorient to what was going around prior to the urge of falling asleep. The time span that a person usually remains in this cycle ranges from five to ten minutes; Stage two consists of slower breaths, a less tense body, and modification of body temperature. This phase takes place after the ten minutes, but within 25 minutes after sleep has occurred. In the third stage, an individual is in a deep sleep, experiences slow brain wave activity with short, spontaneous bursts of increased activity. If the individual is abruptly awakened at this time, they will be disoriented and unfamiliar with their surroundings. The fourth stage is the deepest level of sleep, no separate burst of brain activity, night terrors and bed wetting occurs, and this is when repair and rejuvenation takes place. In the fifth stage, active sleep also known as REM is where dreaming occurs. It experiences the most brain activity, the body is temporarily

Sleep consists of two main stages of sleep; Non-REM (NREM) and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Non-REM sleep consists of three stages each stage that you infiltrate is deeper. N1 or the transition to sleep, lasts from five minutes up to ten minutes and without difficulty you are awakened (e.g., Smith, Robinson, & Segal, n.d.). Jerky movements or muscle twitches occur during this stage as well. During stage N2, you are already in light sleep. This stage generally lasts from ten to twenty-five minutes. All the while, heart rate and body temperatures decrease, and eye movement stops. Lastly, at stage N3 it is very hard to be roused and blood flow is not heading to your brain but, towards the muscles of the body (e.g., Smith et al., n.d.).

Sleep is important for your overall well-being. According to a British study released last month, it discovered that British people who get enough sleep are happier than those who do not. Everyone should be able to get a seven or eight-hour sleep each night. Moreover, lack of sleep may weaken your immune system, maintaining your weight will be more difficult, high blood pressure, and interference with learning and memory. Sleep is something you can have for free and your body may get benefits from it, so try to get more sleep from now on.