Principles of Sleep
Added Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 12:08 pm | View Comments
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Sleep is classed as a state of unconsciousness in which the brain is relatively more responsive to internal than to external stimuli. The brain gradually becomes less responsive to visuals, sound, and other environmental stimuli during the transition from wake to sleep.
Overnight sleep can usually be divided into 3 equal periods. The first part of our sleep is usually a high percentage of NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. The middle and end periods usually consist of a high percentage of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and when you wake up, it is usually during the REM sleep period.
In adults a period of 8 -8.5 hours of sleep in a day is considered enough to allow the body & brain to be fully rested and restored. Some cultures split this sleep period into 7 hours of overnight sleep and 1-2 of napping during the day.
Infants sleep much more than any other age group; in newborns, sleep can occur for up to 14-16 hours a day. As newborns become older, sleep time decreases and by age 5-6 months the sleep pattern has consolidated into an overnight period with at least 1 nap during the day. REM sleep in infants is far higher and only after 4-5 months does the transition into more NREM sleep occur.
In elderly people, the time spent in REM sleep decreases by 10–15% and the time in stage NREM increases by 5% compared to adults. This represents an overall decrease in total sleep time. The inability to fall asleep and the number and duration of overnight waking periods increase. So as you get older you need morel time in bed to achieve fully restorative sleep.
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1 COMMENT
Sleep Myths :: Bedstar Knowledge Base
October 18th, 2007 at 5:55 am
[…] even in the deepest non-REM sleep, our minds can still process information. See our guide to sleep cycles for more information on the types of […]
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