How Does Sleep Really Work for Us?
How Does Sleep Really Work for Us?
We all know what sleep looks like, but how many people know how
sleep works. Also how many people have stopped to think how sleep works.
In this paper I will explain how sleep works.
This is what you can see during sleep. If possible, the person will lie
down to go to sleep. The person's eyes are closed. The person doesn't hear
anything unless it is a loud noise. The person breathes in a slow, rhythmic
pattern. The person's are completely relaxed. If sitting up, the person may
fall out of his or her chair as sleep deepens. During sleep, the person
occasionally rolls over or rearranges his or her body. This happens
approximately once or twice an hour. This may be the body's way of making
sure that no part of the body or skin has its circulation cut off for too long a
period of time.
If you attach an electroencephalograph to a person's head, you can
record the person's brainwave activity. An awake and relaxed person
generates alpha waves, which are consistent oscillations at about 10 cycles
per second. An alert person generates beta waves, which are about twice as
fast. During sleep, two slower patterns called theta waves and delta waves
take over. Theta waves have oscillations in the range of 3.5 to 7 cycles per
second, and delta waves have oscillations of less than 3.5 cycles per second.
As a person falls asleep and sleep deepens, the brainwave patterns slow
down. The slower the brainwave patterns, the deeper the sleep the harder to
wake up. A person deep in delta wave sleep is hardest to wake up.
REM sleep is when you dream. If you wake up a person during REM
sleep, the person can vividly recall dreams. If you wake up a person during
NREM sleep, generally the person will not be dreaming. You must have both
REM and NREM sleep to get a good night's sleep. A normal person will
spend about 25 percent of the night in REM sleep, and the rest in NREM. A
REM session (a dream) lasts five to 30 minutes.
In conlusion sleep seems to be more than meets the eye, so next time
you go to sleep now you know what is really going on inside. It is alot more
complicated then one would think.