Sleep Patterns

Facts: When we lay our heads to rest at night, sleep begins in the N1 stage of sleep, which is the lightest of the non-REM or NREM sleep cycle. Non-REM or non-rapid eye movement sleep consists of three stages, N1 – N3. The N2 stage of sleep is a bit deeper sleep than N1 and of course, N3 is the deepest stage of sleep which, according to the text “General Psychology”, “is considered slow-wave sleep” (156). It is during this stage of sleep that NREM sleep disturbances, such as sleepwalking and sleep terrors occur. The final stage of the sleep cycle is the rapid eye movement (REM) stage; dreams occur in the REM stage and brain waves are most active, similar to the a wakeful state. An important function of REM sleep is muscle paralysis which prevents us from acting out our dreams and

Although sleep disturbances have different characteristics, there is one obvious connection – sleep! Irregularities in sleep patterns are the cause of sleep disturbances. Both sleepwalking and sleep terrors occur in the NREM stage of sleep; since NREM is in the beginning of the sleep cycle, when sleeping is at its lightest stage, the brain is in part a sleep and in part awake. Many complex activities can be performed in this conscious state. In both examples, there is not much memory of the disturbance in sleep upon waking. In contrast, REM sleep behavior disorder occurs during the deepest part of the sleep cycle (REM) and can cause injury to the person themselves and potentially the person sleeping with them. Another distinction between two of the sleep disturbances, sleep terrors and REM sleep behavior disorder, is the age in which the person is affected. Sleep terrors typically occur in children and thankfully most outgrow the disorder and REM sleep behavior disorder is more common in older