Outline The Science Of Sleep

Sleeping is something that everyone takes part in. On average the act of sleeping will consume 26 years of our lives. To some people sleeping is a waste of time, a time where nothing productive happens. That isn’t true at all, while we sleep growth hormones are released helping us grow, our energy is restored, the tissue in our bodies grow, and most importantly we dream. Dreaming helps us deal with our emotions, problems and memories. The purpose of paper is to discuss the science of dreaming. It may seem like sleep is one continuous stage, but it really isn’t. Our sleep is divided into five stages, all leading up to the final stage; Rapid Eye Movement sleep. In the first stage when we are about to fall into nightly slumber, we have periods

Our heart rate starts to slow down and our body temperature drops. Our brain also will start to send out short periods of rapid rhythmic brain wave movement known as Sleep Spindles. This process is then followed by stage three.

Stage three is the changing period between light sleep and deep sleep. Deep, slow brain waves are considered as Delta Waves and they begin to emerge during this stage. Eventually stage four will take over, the fourth stage usually lasts for about 30 minutes. Towards the end of this stage, bedwetting and sleepwalking often occur.

Finally, the last stage: stage five or is also known as REM sleep. Eye movement, increased rate and brain activity all are characteristics of REM sleep. While in this stage our brain becomes more active, along with other body systems, but our voluntary muscles become more relaxed or paralyzed. This final stage is the only stage where dreaming will take place, all the previous stages were all leading up to this stage. Also, high rates of brain activity will occur, which is the cause of dreaming. Lastly, the paralyzation of our voluntary muscles are considered to protect us from harming ourselves or others while

Fears that are in need of attention or confrontation may be reasons for experiences nightmares as well.

While there are nightmares, there are daydreams; which may as well be the opposite of nightmares. Daydreams are dreams that take place in between the consciousness of sleep and wakefulness. These dreams will often happen during the waking hours of the day as well. People also have the tendency to daydream on average of 70-120 minutes a day. Daydreams are usually pleasant, people often let themselves get lost in a fantasy scenario they have created in their minds.

In comparison to nightmares, night terrors are more extreme. Night terrors is also a fear inducing type of dream; people will experience extreme terror and panic that often occurs during the earlier stages of sleep. These types of dreams will usually lead to autonomic discharge, confusion, sleep-talking and “blood-curdling” screams. Additionally, people who are experiencing a night terrors are very hard to wake up and frequently do not remember their dreams. Not to mention, night terrors will usually affect children between ages 4-12 and 1-4 percent of the