Sleep

 

Sleep is a natural phenomenon that all us humans do. Sleep is a way for our bodies to rest and recover. Without sleep we as humans can not function or survive. Sleep is essential for our lives. However, there are many aspects and parts to sleep. There are even things about sleep that we do not know about.

Stages of Sleep

There are 5 stages of sleep: N1, N2, N3, and REM. N1 or commonly known as NREM is a stage of sleep when a person is dozing off. Essentially, sleeping for a few seconds. NREM stands for Non-Rapid Eye Movement and is when the eyes do not move back and forth.This stage lasts for 1 to 5 minutes and it is very easy to wake someone up from this stage.

N2 , which is still NREM sleep, is the 2nd stage of sleep. In N2, the body physically starts to slow down. Heart Rate and breathing slow down, eye movement stops. This stage lasts for 10-25 minutes and is the longest stage of sleep. N3, which is still REM sleep, is the 3rd stage of sleep. It is deep sleep. In N3, the body starts to recover and revitalize itself. In this stage brain waves turn into delta waves. Like N2, breathing decreases and pulse as well.

The last stage of sleep is REM or Rapid Eye Movement. The REM stage is when the eyes move more rapidly back and forth. This is the stage where people dream. It’s also the stage of sleep that helps the brain with long-term memory.

Circadan Rhythm

Circadian Rhythms are a 24 hour cycle that is based off of our bodies interal biological clock. Our biological clock that is controlled by the Circadian Rhythms. Basically, light exposure cause us to stay wake and alert. This is due to the master clock telling the brain, it's daytime, so the body must be alert. The Circadian Rhythm determines when we sleep and our akertness. Overall, controlling our sleeping pattern. Circadian Rhtym influences, body temperature , digestion and etc.