In previous years, a Stage 4 (N4) was also identified, but as of 2008 has been merged with Stage 3 (N3) into a single stage. This stage is also called Deep Sleep, or delta sleep, due to the brains production of long, slow waves called delta waves. Stage 3 (N3) Sleep: Deep Sleep, Non-REM 3Ī quarter of our time asleep is spent in Stage 3 (N3), which typically initiates about 40 minutes after first falling asleep. While classified as light sleep, sleepers in the N2 stage are harder to wake up than those still in N1. “Sleep spindles” emerge these are peaks of brain activity considered essential in maintaining communications within the brain itself, as well as memory and learning.Heart rate, breathing, and other body functions slow.The actual time spent in each N2 stage is about 20 minutes, but in this relatively brief period, your body physiology is adjusting downwards in preparation for sliding into the actual restorative later stages of sleep. The greatest amount of sleep time approximately fifty percent of the total is spent in Stage 2 sleep. Stage 2 (N2) Sleep: Light Sleep, Non-REM 2 Your brainwave activity will show primarily a relaxed, quiet head, with occasional blips of alpha waves that characterize an awake, alert mind. Stage 1 sleep may be described as light, shallow, or transitional, making it easy to wake up. For example, your 90-minute sleep stage map may typically read as follows: In addition to marking the beginning of your sleep period, Stage 1 sleep also occurs between each subsequent stage of sleep. Taking up about five percent of our total sleep time, Stage 1 sleep lasts for about five to ten minutes at a time. Stage 1 (N1) Sleep: Light sleep, nonREM 1 What are the differences among the four stages of sleep?Īll four stage of sleep are essential and serve different purposes. People normally experience three or four sleep cycles per night, their bodies automatically advancing through each stage in sequence, and waking naturally after approximately eight hours.Īlthough nobody knows exactly why most living things sleep, medical research suggests that time spent sleeping is essential for performing essential maintenance and repair within the body. Together, these four sleep stages make up a single sleep cycle, lasting between 60 and 90 minutes each.
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