Tuesday 12 August 2014

Sleep Architecture

You may think that one time you go to bed, you soon fall in to a deep sleep that lasts for most of the night, progressing back in to light sleep in the morning when it's time to wake up. In point of fact, the sleep cycle is much more complicated.

When you chart the sleep stages over the coursework of the night, the result looks like a city skyline which is why it is called "sleep architecture"

In the coursework of the night, your sleep follows a predictable pattern, moving back & forth between deep restorative sleep (deep sleep) & more alert stages & dreaming (REM sleep). Together, the stages of REM & non-REM sleep form a complete sleep cycle. Each cycle usually lasts about 90 minutes & repeats to six times over the coursework of a night.

The amount of time you spend in each stage of sleep changes as the night progresses. For example, most deep sleep occurs in the first half of the night. Later in the night, your REM sleep stages become longer, alternating with light Stage N2 sleep. This is why in case you are sensitive to waking up in the midst of the night, it is probably in the early morning hours, not immediately after going to bed.

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