Researchers have consistently reported elevated levels of twitching in the distal muscles of both animals and humans during REM sleep, and particularly late REM sleep. Twitches are short-duration, involuntary muscle contractions, which when observed in the paws, tails, ears and whiskers of sleeping pets are often attributed to the acting out of dreams. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential for a simple finger-mounted device to measure finger twitches and thereby differentiate periods of REM and NREM sleep. In 2017, Fitbit 11 introduced the capability to differentiate light, deep and REM sleep in wrist-worn actigraphy devices, but with a per-epoch accuracy of 69% compared with PSG, 12 the search for an accurate, cost-effective ambulatory system to measure REM sleep continues. 7, 8 Several alternative techniques have been investigated to measure REM sleep, 9, 10 with limited success. 6 The gold standard for objective measurement of REM sleep is polysomnography (PSG) which is expensive and has practical limitations. 2 REM sleep is suggested to be important for memory consolidation 3 and development, 4 and abnormal REM sleep patterns are symptomatic of chronic disorders e.g., depression 5 and narcolepsy. Alcohol and quality sleep do not mix well.Since the discovery of rapid eye movements (REMs), 1 sleep has been dichotomised as non-REM (NREM) sleep, which shows the restfulness normally associated with sleep, or REM sleep, characterised by REMs, skeletal muscle inhibition and cortical activation similar to wakefulness. REM sleep is also very susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol, just like deep sleep.This is ideal just before your alarm goes off. It stimulates the central nervous system, preparing us to wake up. REM sleep is no longer assumed to be just restorative it is also preparatory.If you wake briefly several times a night but fall back to sleep, you have not missed any of the good stuff. REM is often followed by brief periods of wakefulness, which are normal in a sleep cycle.It is incredibly creative in the connections it attempts beyond what our daytime thinking is capable of. REM also helps us make connections our brain wouldn’t even dare try during the day.REM sleep assists memory differently than deep sleep, focusing on social-emotional memories and even salvaging forgotten memories.It strengthens memories the night after you learn something new, like clicking “Save” for a new document. However, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing quicken, and our eyes dart beneath our eyelids, thus named rapid-eye-movement sleep, regardless of whether we are dreaming.Dreams commonly occur during REM sleep, but muscles lose all tone, which prevents (most of) us from acting out our dreams.REM usually occurs later in a 90-minute sleep cycle and commonly just before waking.REM brain waves are shorter than delta waves and are not synchronized like deep wave sleep.It is called paradoxical sleep for this reason. REM Sleep is quite different from the other stages because the brain appears awake, but the body stays immobile.Source: bruniewska/Shutterstock REM Sleep Things that zap deep sleep include alcohol, benzodiazepines, opioid medications, lack of activity, and oversleeping ( sleeping past your regular wake-up time).The research is clear: we need deep wave sleep to be well. When we lack deep wave sleep, our risk for almost every disease goes up.Growth hormone production occurs in deep sleep and both decrease with age.(Thank goodness because it is difficult to wake from deep sleep, and if someone or something dares do this, you may feel disoriented and irritable). Deep sleep tends to disappear in the last cycles of the night when REM increases.The brain seems to prioritize it, dipping down into deep sleep about an hour after you nod off and then a few more times throughout the night. Deep sleep is more prevalent in the first half of the night.This “neural resonance” may help the lymphatic system cleanse our brains by flushing them of beta-amyloid plaques and misshapen proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease.It is synchronized with other brain waves, unlike the disharmony of wave patterns during REM sleep. Deep sleep is generated from the frontal lobe and displays the brain at its most coordinated.Deep sleep occurs after shallow sleep (Stages 1 and 2) within a 90-minute sleep cycle.Slow delta brain waves oscillate at about two to four waves per second and make up less than 25 percent of our nightly slumber.I like to think of it as when our sleep sleeps. Deep sleep is one type, the deepest type of non-REM sleep.It goes by many names, including delta wave sleep (its predominant brain wave), Stage 3-4, Stage 3 or Stage 4 Sleep.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |