What is Biological Rhythm? Essay

There are four stages of sleep. In the first stage (10 min. into sleep), your pulse slows down and your muscles begin to relax. Your breathing

The stages of sleep can be broken down into two broad categories: non-REM and REM sleep. Non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep can be further broken down into four more stages - stages 1-4.

While experiencing good sleep, I will unconsciously pass through five stages: 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM sleep (citation). According to the PL100 text, these stages progress cyclically from 1 through REM then begin again with stage 1, and usually,

While awake, beta waves are active in the brain. The first stage is known as REM. This is where rapid eye movement occurs. As well, dreams typically occur here. As you begin to fall asleep these beta waves become less prevalent and theta waves start to develop. This occurs in the early stages of sleep. Furthermore, this stage is known as N1 which is a light sleep that usually occurs for about five minutes. During this time body temperature drops and shallow, irregular breathing occurs. The next stage is known as N2. An EEG would show sleep spindles at this point. As time goes on the brain will begin to produce delta waves. These waves are long and slow. They occur in the deepest stages of sleep known as N3. This stage is also responsible for growth hormones being released in the pituitary gland. After N3 the body will begin to wake up on its own. The body will return to it's REM stage where body temperature increases and eyes have movement.

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

Stage 1 is a type of sleep where you drift in and out of your sleep. You can be easily awake. The eye moves slow and muscle activity is slow during this stage. During these stages many can experience sudden muscle contractions proceeding by sensation of falling. Stage 2 eye movement stops in your brain wave become slower with only an occasional burst for rapid waves. Stage 3

The brain generates very slow waves known as theta waves. During this stage there is a transition between being awake and falling asleep.

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).

Throughout the night most people do not even notice all the different stages of sleep that they go into without even thinking about it. In an entire night of sleep a person goes through four different stages of sleep. When a person first lies down before their body even reaches the first level of sleep they lay there in a relaxed state slowing all of their natural body activities In the first actual

The body follows a cycle called the circadian rhythm to go through waking and sleeping. The sleep cycle first starts out with a part of the hypothalamus, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, telling the pineal gland to release melatonin. This occurs when light starts to fade. As melatonin is released, beta waves start to decrease and alpha waves increase. A person is now starting to become drowsy and relaxed. Once this stage has been completed, a person moves through the four stages of sleep.

The second sleep stage is accompanied by brain waves becoming slower and eye movement stops with occasional rapid wave bursts. The third sleep stage, is with faster, smaller waves with extremely slow waves that appears interposed. At the last stage delta wave is emitted (smaller waves that appear interposed with slow wave).

Furthermore, they reported that non-REM sleep is divided into four stages. The first stage occurs right after an individual falls asleep and accounts for about five percent of total sleep. During stage one sleep people can be awakened easily, and sometimes during this stage of sleep people may experience a sensation of falling. The second stage of non-REM sleep accounts for about fifty percent of total sleep time. During stage two sleep the body prepares itself for deep sleep by lowering the heart rate and the body temperature. Stage three sleep accounts for about five percent of total sleep time. Stage three sleep is the beginning of deep sleep. Stage four sleep, which accounts for about twenty percent of total sleep time, is the deepest state of sleep. Stage four sleep is when people can experience sleepwalking and nightmares, and if someone is awaken during this stage of sleep they can feel a certain degree of disorientation.

 There are five stages of sleep, REM and NREM stages 1, 2, 3, & 4.

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