Sleep: A deeper snore into the abyss.

As someone who successfully averages 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night with the occasional benchmark of making 2-3 hours of sleep daily, there is definitely a credibility in claiming sleep as an important part of everyday life.  But what exactly happens when you sleep? Though I can’t say for sure what it means to have a healthy sleep cycle, a normal person normally goes through several stages of sleep.  Generally speaking, these stages of sleep are categorized into two categories: REM and NREM. REM is generally involved in active memory consolidation and repair while NREM focuses on reduction in physiological activity. The complete outline as specified is as follows:

NREM1: The Non REM Stage 1 of the sleep cycle accounts for the very beginnings of sleep as your body prepares to enter the unconsciousness. While your body falls asleep, your breathing and heartbeat grows slower and gradually becomes more regular. It is not uncommon during this time to experience hypnagogic jerks: sudden feelings of micro awakenings followed by a falling sensation as you transition further into sleep. During this time, the higher gamma and beta waves often associated with wakefulness transitions into the slower theta waves often associated with sleep. Interesting enough, because this stage is on the phase boundary (chemistry? evict me~) between conscious and unconsciousness, people who have woken up during this time often have the misconception that they straight up did not sleep at all since they still had some semblance of awareness. Overall, this stage should last about 10 minutes only though it is also one of the most sensitive to awakening out of all stages of Non REM.

NREM2:  Non REM 2 sees a further decrease in physical activity. At this point, conscious awareness of the outside world begins to fade completely. This phase is dominated by the theta waves and usually lasts 20 or so minutes. In between the use of slow theta waves, one can also see sudden jerks of brain activity in the form of sigma waves. These waves serve to deepen your sleep and get rid of outside distractions. Because of the cycle transitions to NREM 2 so much, this stage accounts for approximately 50 percent of your time asleep.

NREM3: This stage of sleep is considered the deepest stage of sleep and starts approximately 35 to 45 minutes after you begin sleeping. If you’re in this stage of sleep, you most likely won’t be disturbed by potential outside interference. Taking up 15 to 20 percent of total sleep time, NREM3 is characterized by the slowest delta waves. This stage also signifies the beginning of dreaming (most common stage outside of REM) and memory consolidation.

REM: The REM stage is perhaps the most important stage of the sleep cycle. REM itself stands for rapid eye movement which is a big characteristic of those who enter REM stage. Dreaming and memory consolidation happens frequently during this stage. Often coined the paradoxical stage of sleep, those who enter REM experience a series of alpha beta, theta and even beta waves often associated with wakefulness.  Breathing becomes more irregular and heartbeat and blood pressure rise to near waking levels. Ironically while it may seem physiological that the person is awake, the brain has cut all connections to the motor functions of the body; you are essentially paralyzed. If you’re in REM sleep, you should theoretically not be able to move at all.  It is also during this period where periods of sexual arousal may happen regardless of whether or not the dreams are erotic in nature. The idea of having an erect reproductive system in the morning (most commonly associated with men’s “morning wood”) can be explained by recent awakenings after the passing of a REM cycle. Though REM accounts for only 20 to 25 percent of total sleep, it is often considered the most vital. Waking up in the middle of REM sleep can be disorienting and you will end up feeling even more tired than you were when awake which can often be confusing to many people. A typical REM cycle consists of 90 minutes, though a successful sleep generally requires 4 to 5 REM cycles.  After the first REM cycle, your body will experience repeats involving NREM2, NREM3, NREM2 and then a REM cycle again. This concept will repeat until the wretched sounding alarm awakens you to remind you of waking world.

If you have any questions involving sleep and the research, all websites and sources are archived in the menu up top~.