The final twenty percent or so of our sleep time is spent in Stage 5 REM sleep, known as rapid-eye movement sleep (REM), characterized by the following: The amount of deep sleep you get shortens as you age. With each successive cycle, N3 sleep decreases and is replaced by N2 and REM stage sleep. Your longest periods of rejuvenating deep sleep occur in the first two sleep cycles. It effectively erases the accumulated need for sleep that builds over a normal day of wakefulness, and may play a major role in helping clear the brain for new learning the following day. Subjectively, deep sleep is considered to be the most refreshing portion of the entire sleep cycle. Built-up waste products are flushed away, tissues are repaired and regrown, bones and muscles are built especially in growing children, and the immune system is strengthened. When you enter this stage, your body releases human growth hormone (HGH), a powerful substance that plays a vital role in cellular repair. It is during this phase that common sleep disorders may occur, particularly in children, including bedwetting, night terrors, and sleepwalking.ĭeep sleep is the most physiologically profound stage of sleep. Waking is difficult, and should you wake, you feel very disoriented (a condition sometimes known as being sleep drunk). We enjoy complete unconsciousness during this phase of sleep, and are almost entirely oblivious to external stimuli, including light, sound, and movements. In previous years, a Stage 4 (N4) was also identified, but as of 2008 has been merged with Stage 3 (N3) into a single stage. This stage is also called Deep Sleep, or delta sleep, due to the brains production of long, slow waves called delta waves. Stage 3 (N3) Sleep: Deep Sleep, Non-REM 3Ī quarter of our time asleep is spent in Stage 3 (N3), which typically initiates about 40 minutes after first falling asleep. While classified as light sleep, sleepers in the N2 stage are harder to wake up than those still in N1.
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