#NOT GETTING DEEP SLEEP FULL#

We tend to spend more time in deeper sleep stages in earlier sleep cycles, while also spending much more time in REM during the sleep cycles experienced later in the night (or day, depending on your sleep schedule). However, it is believed that REM sleep plays a vital role in the brain’s ability to learn and remember since it is during REM sleep that the brain processes, consolidate, and stores information into long-term memory.

#NOT GETTING DEEP SLEEP FULL#

REM sleep is somewhat mysterious, and its full function is still being studied by neuroscientists. During REM sleep, heart rate and blood pressure increase, while breathing can become irregular, fast, and shallow. During this phase, we experience dreams, but also a host of neurological and physiological responses which are similar to being awake. Stage 5Īfter these stages, the body enters the most talked-about phase of sleep: the REM phase. The body produces growth hormones, regulates immune system function, and develops and repairs muscle tissue during these stages, making them critical for physical health and recovery. The muscles of the body become fully relaxed or ‘limp’ in this stage, and breathing rate, blood pressure, and body temperature all decrease significantly during these stages. Stage 3 and 4ĭuring the third and fourth stages of sleep, slow wave sleep, we become much more difficult to wake up.

It is believed that it is during this stage that most of our memories are formed. These spikes in brain activity are thought to play a role in long term memory consolidation and sensory processing, making this an important stage as we age. During this stage, the brain produces sudden spikes in brain waves known as sleep spindles for their spindly appearance on EEG charts. In the second stage of sleep, still referred to as light sleep, eye movement, brain waves, and muscle activity start to decrease and prepare the mind for deep sleep. If you want a long nap, you want to sleep for 90 minutes or more so you make it through an entire cycle. Taking too long of a nap means you may wake up during deep sleep, which leads to sleep inertia where you feel all groggy. Light sleep is also when it’s easiest to wake up, and that’s why power naps shouldn’t be more than twenty minutes so you don’t enter deep sleep. In this stage, the mind and body begin to ‘slow down,’ causing us to feel drowsy and relaxed. The first stage of sleep, known as light stage sleep, is one of the shortest, lasting five to ten minutes on average. What are the stages of a Sleep Cycle? Stage 1 Thus, the need to schedule specific wake up times is important to ensure the brain wakes up at an appropriate stage in its sleep cycle and that we wake up refreshed.

Since sleep cycles occur regularly every ninety minutes or so, the average individual experiences around four to six sleep cycles in a full seven to nine-hour night of sleep. Sleep cycles typically last around ninety minutes to two hours, during which time the brain cycles from slow-wave sleep to REM sleep in which we experience dreams. Sleep cycles are part of our internal biological “clocks” the regularly occurring patterns of brain waves which occur while we sleep. No matter if you track your sleep using a service like Sleep Cycle, or use a regular alarm clock fact is we all go through similar sleep stage patterns throughout the night. Sleep Cycle alarm clock > About Sleep > Sleep Science The stages of sleep

Not getting deep sleep