Stages of Sleep:
When a person begins to sleep they go through sleep patterns throughout the night, a total of four to be exact each being named stages 1, 2, 3, and 4.
- During stage one is when the person falls asleep, this is the lightest stage after a few minutes the person falls into stage two.
- During stage two, the sleep cycle creates spindle-shaped tracings called sleep spindles which are a burst of brain activity at about 18-15 seconds.
- Then stage three takes over where delta waves which are pretty much normal brainwaves in the encephalogram of a person in deep dreamless sleep, which occur with high voltage and low frequency activity at about .5-2.5 a second.
- Lastly, is the final stage of sleep which is stage four where delta waves occupy a major part of the record brain activity
- During stage one is when the person falls asleep, this is the lightest stage after a few minutes the person falls into stage two.
- During stage two, the sleep cycle creates spindle-shaped tracings called sleep spindles which are a burst of brain activity at about 18-15 seconds.
- Then stage three takes over where delta waves which are pretty much normal brainwaves in the encephalogram of a person in deep dreamless sleep, which occur with high voltage and low frequency activity at about .5-2.5 a second.
- Lastly, is the final stage of sleep which is stage four where delta waves occupy a major part of the record brain activity
R.E.M
Different states of sleep seem to change dramatically characterized by rapid eye movement (R.E.M). R.E.M is a very important factor to remember when studying sleep. This is because during the R.E.M period, a cascade of potent chemicals is released. This stimulates the visual and motor centers of the brain, evoking the dreamer’s memories. It is these memories that the brain uses as ways to create a story, thus creating dreams and nightmares. R.E.M usually starts about 90 minutes after falling asleep.