Sleep 2

Lecture 03
Physiological and behavioral description of sleep

Sleep
Most of us consider sleep a time of tranquility when we set aside the tensions of the day and
spend the night in uneventful slumber. However, a closer look at sleep shows
that a good deal of activity occurs throughout the night.
Measures of electrical activity in the brain show that the brain is quite active during the night. It
produces electrical discharges with systematic, wavelike patterns that change in height (or
amplitude) and speed (or frequency) in regular sequences.
There is also significant physical activity in muscle and eye movements. People progress
through a series of distinct stages of sleep during a night’s rest—known as stage 1 through stage
4 and REM sleep—moving through the stages in cycles lasting about 90 minutes. Each of these
sleep stages is associated with a unique pattern of brain waves, which you can see in Figure 2.
Stage 1
When people first go to sleep, they move from a waking state in which they are relaxed
with their eyes closed into stage 1 sleep, which is characterized by relatively rapid, low-
amplitude brain waves. This is actually a stage of transition between wake-fullness and
sleep and lasts only a few minutes.
In the beginning of stage 1, the brain produces high amplitude alpha waves and begins
to produce theta waves as the stage progresses. Put simply, brainwaves are electrical
pulses in the brain that change according to what we are doing or how we are feeling.
As the waves slow down (a decrease in frequency, or cycles per second), the brain goes
into a deeper sleep. Alpha waves are the highest frequency (thus, the fastest) of the three
brain waves that characterize sleep, explaining why, when we have just fallen asleep and
are not yet in a state of deep sleep, we can be easily awoken.
Stage 2
As sleep becomes deeper, people enter stage 2 sleep, which makes up about half of the total sleep
of those in their early 20s and is characterized by a slower, more regular wave pattern. However,
there are also momentary interruptions of sharply pointed, spiky waves that are called, because of
their configuration, sleep spindles. It becomes increasingly difficult to awaken a person from sleep
as stage 2 progresses.
In this stage, your body temperature drops, and your eye movements stop completely. Stage 2 is
characterized by theta waves, but the brain also begins to produce bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain
wave activity known as sleep spindles, which are important for learning and memory (Fogel &
Smith, 2011).
In addition to sleep spindles are the presence of k-complexes, high amplitude patterns of brain
activity that may can occur in response to environmental stimuli. In total, N2 lasts roughly 20
minutes long (Altevogt & Colten, 2006).
Stage 3 and 4
As people drift into stage 3 sleep, the brain waves become slower, with higher peaks
and lower valleys in the wave pattern.
By the time sleepers arrive at stage 4 sleep, the pattern is even slower and more
regular, and people are least responsive to outside stimulation.
As you can see in Figure 3, stage 4 sleep is most likely to occur during the early part
of the night. In the first half of the night, sleep is dominated by stages 3 and 4.
The second half is characterized by stages 1 and 2—as well as a fifth stage during
which dreams occur.
• This stage is referred to as “slow wave sleep,” due to the presence of
delta waves, or slow brain waves, as the brain is now in a deeper
state of sleep as compared to N1 and N2. Sleepwalking and night
terrors are also a unique characteristic of N3.
• Additionally, it is in this stage that human growth hormone (HGH)
is released. HGH works to restore and rebuild your body and
muscles from the stresses of the day (Iyo, 2020). N3 lasts between
20 to 40 minutes long (Altevogt & Colten, 2006).
Sleep has been traditionally divided into two categories: Non-rapid
eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM).
Non-REM Sleep
• Non-REM sleep is marked by a reduction of physiological activity as bodily
functions slow down. There are three phases of non-REM sleep, commonly
referred to as N1, N2, and N3.
• Each stage is marked by unique characteristics and differs from the others in
terms of the depth of sleep, or the degree of the sensory and motor disconnects.
• During non-REM sleep, electrical activity in the brain slows, growth hormone
secretion occurs, and there is a decrease in muscle activity, heart rate,
respiration, and oxygen consumption (Purves et al., 2001).
• Non-REM sleep is regulated by many brain structures, especially that of
the thalamus and the cerebral cortex (De Andrés, Garzón, & Reinoso-Suárez,
2011).
REM Sleep
• REM sleep, on the other hand, is marked by intense brain activity and is a
much more active period of sleep than non-REM.
• This stage is heavily regulated by the brainstem (McCarley et al., 1995), which
is the region of the brain that connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord. It
consists of the midbrain, medulla oblongata, and the pons.
• REM sleep occurs after the brain passes through stages one, two, and three,
and typically occurs approximately every 90 minutes (McCarley et al., 1995).
• During REM sleep, brain activity increases, voluntary muscles are inhibited,
and rapid eye movements and dreams occur (McCarley et al., 1995).
The Circadian Rhythm
• how do our bodies know when to go back and forth between these states of sleep
and wakefulness? Luckily, we have all an internal clock telling us when to do so.
The circadian rhythm, our 24-hour clock, operates as our sleep/wake cycle.
• This body clock is located in the superchiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a pair of distinct
groups of cells located in the hypothalamus. It controls the production of
melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy, by receiving information about
incoming light from the eyes.
• When there is less light (like at night), the SCN tells the brain to make more
melatonin so you get drowsy and are able to fall asleep. After a night’s rest,
melatonin levels will drop, and you will be awake for the day.

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Lecture 03

Physiological and behavioral description of sleep

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