Follow
Sleep Cycle
The sleep cycle: A sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes and during that time we move through five stages of sleep. The first four stages make up our non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and the fifth stage is when rapid eye movement (REM) sleep occurs. NREM sleep: Across these four stages we move from very light sleep during Stage 1 down to very deep sleep in Stage 4. It is very difficult to wake someone who is in Stage 4 sleep. Across NREM sleep, we have little muscle activity and our eyes do not typically move, but all of our muscles retain their ability to function. REM sleep: As the name would imply – during this final stage of sleep, we have bursts of rapid eye movements. This is the stage of sleep in which most dreaming occurs. Our eyes are not constantly moving, but they do dart back and forth, up and down. These eye movements may be related to visual images of dreams, but that is not confirmed, and in general, the reason for these eye movements is still a mystery. Although our eyes are moving rapidly, the muscles that move our bodies are paralyzed (other important muscles, such as our heart and diaphragm continue to function normally).
-
MAR 12, 2015Neuroscience
Narcolepsy, a chronic central nervous system disorder that occurs when the brain cannot normally regulate cycles of slee ...Written By: Ilene SchneiderMAR 06, 2015Neuroscience
If you walk into your local drug store and ask for a supplement to help you sleep, you might be directed to a bottle lab ...Written By: Ilene SchneiderSEP 15, 2014Immunology
Itch, scratch, itch scratch. It can be a vicious cycle. Everyone's been bothered by some form of itch, but we usually kn ...Written By: Peter MicheliJUL 02, 2014Neuroscience
For centuries people have thought that the moon, especially a full moon, influenced human biology or behavior. Condition ...Written By: Peter Micheli
