6.5 NREM and REM Sleep

Question 1

Define NREM Sleep

Answer 1

Non-rapid eye movement sleep with three stages involving increasingly deeper sleep. Involves 3 stages.

Question 2

List 3 key factors in stage1 of NREM

Answer 2

• Light sleep
• lower body arousal
• muscles relaxing, lead to involuntary muscle jerks
• Lasts for around 5min after falling asleep
• Easily awakened

Question 3

List 3 key factors in stage2 of NREM

Answer 3

• Light sleep
• Continued slowing of heart rate and blood pressure
• Harder to wake than in stage 1 + report they didn’t think they were asleep
• 10-25min per cycle
  Spend most of our sleep in cycles in stage 2

Question 4

List 3 key factors in stage3 of NREM

Answer 4

• Period of deep sleep
• Heart rate and blood pressure lowest
• Delta waves
• Very difficult to wake someone in this state
• 20-40min per cycle
• Series of body movements marks the changeover to NREM sleep

Question 5

Define REM sleep

Answer 5

Rapid Eye Movement

Question 6

List 3 key factors in REM sleep

Answer 6

• Rapid eye movement under the eyelids , corresponds with brain activity
• Beta waves
• Blood pressure rises
• Heart rate faster + irregular
• Throughout the night closer to the morning, more sleep is spent in REM stage.
• The individual however is relaxed + barely moves + Appears to be paralysed
• Also known as paradoxical sleep
• Dreaming mainly occurs in REM sleep