Sleep stage
Sleep stage
A Sleep stage is a part of the sleep cycle that occurs during sleep. It is characterized by certain physiological features, including brain wave activity, eye movement, and muscle activity.
Pronunciation
- IPA: /sliːp steɪdʒ/
Etymology
The term "sleep stage" is derived from the English words "sleep", which means a condition of body and mind which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended, and "stage", which means a point, period, or step in a process or development.
Related terms
- Sleep cycle: The progression through the various stages of sleep.
- REM sleep: A stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and dreaming.
- Non-REM sleep: The portion of sleep that is not characterized by rapid eye movements.
- Sleep deprivation: The condition of not having enough sleep.
- Sleep disorder: A medical disorder of the sleep patterns.
- Insomnia: A sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep.
Sleep stages
There are typically five stages of sleep that rotate between non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) and include drowsiness, light sleep, moderate to deep sleep, deepest sleep, and dreaming.
- NREM Stage 1: This is a stage of light sleep where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily.
- NREM Stage 2: The onset of sleep as you become unaware of your surroundings. Your body temperature drops and breathing and heart rate become regular.
- NREM Stage 3: This is the deep sleep stage. It's harder to rouse you during this stage, and if someone woke you up, you would feel disoriented for a few minutes.
- NREM Stage 4: This is the deepest sleep stage and the hardest from which to wake someone up. The brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. It is during this stage that a person may experience sleepwalking, night terrors, or bedwetting.
- REM sleep: This stage is associated with dreaming, rapid eye movements, increased respiration rate, and brain activity.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Sleep stage
- Wikipedia's article - Sleep stage
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