![]() ![]() If anything has changed however……that’s when we wake up, as described in figure 3: If everything is as it was when we fell asleep we may well just roll over and carry on sleeping as in figure 2: We are usually in deep sleep towards the beginning of the night and lighter sleep in the early hours of the morning.Īfter each cycle we come to a point of partial waking (the red bars on figure 2). The sleep cycles occur throughout the night. Brains can become very active during REM sleep yet out bodies are relaxed.įigure 1: Non-Rapid Eye Movement (Non-REM) ans Rapid Eye movement (REM) stagesĮach cycle usually lasts for around 90 minutes and is slightly shorter for infants (45-60 mins) It is vital for mental and emotional development. Sleep then moves into a phase of Rapid Eye Movement (REM stage). It will be difficult to wake your child when they are in this stage. The body needs this sleep so that repair can take place. Your child will be more relaxed now and if you are trying to sneak out of their bedroom this is a good time to make your exit! Stage 2 – still quite a light sleep but the body is preparing for the deep sleep that is about to come. If you have ever tried tip toeing out of your child’s bedroom and they’ve woken this is why – they were in a very light sleep. Stage 1 – a very light sleep, where you will be easily woken. Alcohol and quality sleep do not mix well.At night time we experience different levels of sleep and we sleep in cycles. REM sleep is also very susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol, just like deep sleep.This is ideal just before your alarm goes off. It stimulates the central nervous system, preparing us to wake up. REM sleep is no longer assumed to be just restorative it is also preparatory.If you wake briefly several times a night but fall back to sleep, you have not missed any of the good stuff. REM is often followed by brief periods of wakefulness, which are normal in a sleep cycle.It is incredibly creative in the connections it attempts beyond what our daytime thinking is capable of. REM also helps us make connections our brain wouldn’t even dare try during the day.REM sleep assists memory differently than deep sleep, focusing on social-emotional memories and even salvaging forgotten memories.It strengthens memories the night after you learn something new, like clicking “Save” for a new document. However, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing quicken, and our eyes dart beneath our eyelids, thus named rapid-eye-movement sleep, regardless of whether we are dreaming.Dreams commonly occur during REM sleep, but muscles lose all tone, which prevents (most of) us from acting out our dreams.REM usually occurs later in a 90-minute sleep cycle and commonly just before waking.REM brain waves are shorter than delta waves and are not synchronized like deep wave sleep.It is called paradoxical sleep for this reason. REM Sleep is quite different from the other stages because the brain appears awake, but the body stays immobile.Source: bruniewska/Shutterstock REM Sleep Things that zap deep sleep include alcohol, benzodiazepines, opioid medications, lack of activity, and oversleeping ( sleeping past your regular wake-up time).The research is clear: we need deep wave sleep to be well. When we lack deep wave sleep, our risk for almost every disease goes up.Growth hormone production occurs in deep sleep and both decrease with age.(Thank goodness because it is difficult to wake from deep sleep, and if someone or something dares do this, you may feel disoriented and irritable). Deep sleep tends to disappear in the last cycles of the night when REM increases.The brain seems to prioritize it, dipping down into deep sleep about an hour after you nod off and then a few more times throughout the night. Deep sleep is more prevalent in the first half of the night.This “neural resonance” may help the lymphatic system cleanse our brains by flushing them of beta-amyloid plaques and misshapen proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease.It is synchronized with other brain waves, unlike the disharmony of wave patterns during REM sleep. Deep sleep is generated from the frontal lobe and displays the brain at its most coordinated.Deep sleep occurs after shallow sleep (Stages 1 and 2) within a 90-minute sleep cycle.Slow delta brain waves oscillate at about two to four waves per second and make up less than 25 percent of our nightly slumber.I like to think of it as when our sleep sleeps. Deep sleep is one type, the deepest type of non-REM sleep.It goes by many names, including delta wave sleep (its predominant brain wave), Stage 3-4, Stage 3 or Stage 4 Sleep. ![]()
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