Sleep and The Sleep Cycle Revision
Sleep and The Sleep Cycle Revision
Sleep and The Sleep Cycle Revision
CYCLE
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO
KNOW ?
What is sleep?
Whys is sleep and ASC?
Brain wave patterns associated with sleep
How sleep is measured
Sleep deprivation
How we recover from sleep
Theories on why we need sleep
A TYPICAL NIGHTS SLEEP
2. Awake and Drowsy
Just before we fall asleep and close our eyes our brainwave patters are mainly
ALPHA brainwaves.
In our first cycle we reach stage 4 after an hour of sleep and in our first cycle we spend
about 30minutes in stage 4 sleep’
Stage 4 consists of DELTA brainwaves
A TYPICAL NIGHTS SLEEP
NREM SLEEP –
More likely to experience sleepwalking, night terrors and bedwetting during stages
3-4 sleep ( Why might this be the case?)
Sleep walking (somnambulism) is more common in children
Sleepwalkers are not carrying out their dreams as dreaming doesn’t normally occur
during stages 3&4 sleep.
It is not dangerous to wake a sleepwalker. They will most likely go to bed and not
remember the event
Night terrors are more likely to occur during the first two sleep cycles.
Sleep talking can occur at any stage of NREM sleep
A TYPICAL NIGHTS SLEEP
Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
The first cycle of REM sleep lasts for 10 minutes
REM sleep is a lighter stage of sleep that stages 3&4 and are therefore easier to wake
If we are woken during REM sleep, we tend to recall that we are dreaming.
Our brain is active during REM sleep and resembles Beta brainwaves, however they are called Sawtooth
waves
Have rapid burst’s of eye movement, heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increases and
fluctuates
During REM sleep, we experience Muscle Atonia or Cataplexy (paralysis) apart from occasional
twitching
REM sleep can be referred as ‘ paradoxal sleep as we can look relaxed and asleep, but our other
A TYPICAL NIGHTS SLEEP
REM SLEEP – DREAMING
We only dream during REM sleep
Dreams can be confusing and weird
You final dream of the night is normally the longest and strangest and the one dream that you may
remember
SLEEP CYCLE
It is important to realize that sleep does not progress through the stages in sequence.
REM sleep doesn’t happen in the first cycle of sleep, it starts in the second cycle.
Sleep begins in stage 1 and progresses into stages 2, 3 and 4. After stage 4 sleep, stage 3 and
then stage 2 sleep are repeated before entering REM sleep. Once REM sleep is over, the
body usually returns to stage 2 sleep. Sleep cycles through these stages approximately four
or five times throughout the night.
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ain-and-body/indicators-asc-vcaa-questions/question-1/quiz/#
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