Sleeping Patterns
By: Mark ShowalterTotal Views: 194, Word Count: 481,
Sleep is required by the body to rejuvenate and mend up all the wear and tear that the body undergoes during the time of wakefulness. Almost all categories of animals sleep. Sleep is a common behavioral activity for all mammals and even for some reptiles, fish, insects like ants and fruit flies. With the advancement of medical science, scientists have been able to unravel several mysteries shrouded around the mechanism of sleep and various sleeping patterns.
Sleep is very essential for all individuals as the brain gets the opportunity to develop itself and time to assort the images and events that the person has experienced throughout the day. This would yield the person with a good sense of perception and reasoning. The muscles get ample rest and prepare themselves to get active as the person wakes up. In fact, sleep helps an individual to shred off his or her tiredness and energize the body to perform work with full efficiency.
Information on Sleeping Patterns
Scientists after years of research have inferred that the sleep of a human being consists of mainly two stages, REM or rapid eye movement stage and the NREM or the non rapid eye movement stage. The REM sleep consists of 20% to 25% of total sleep while the NREM comprises of the rest.
The sleeping patterns in REM are characterized by rapid movement of closed eyes along with rapid flow of brain waves or low voltage EEG. During this phase of sleep, most of the dreams take place while hardly any dream occurs during the NREM.
NREM sleeping patterns are categorized into four stages based on the intensity of the flow of the brain waves, rapid movement of eyeballs and activities of the musculoskeletal activities.
The Stages of Sleep in NREM
Stage 1 – This stage is often known as the somnolence stage or the stage of drowsiness. At this phase of sleep the brains start sending theta waves instead of alpha waves. The theta waves are of an average frequency of 4 to 7 Hz while the alpha waves are of the frequency of 8 to 13 Hz.
Stage 2 – At this stage the activities of the brain involves sleep spindles of approximately 12 to 16 Hz and secretes chemicals like K-complexes. The muscles become inactive and the individual becomes unconscious of the activities of the external environment.
Stage 3 – The sleep is characterized by slow waves (SWS) or delta waves.
A good sleep consists of both the REM and NREM sleep patterns and if either of the one is deprived the health of an individual might get affected. If you are suffering from poor quality sleep medical sleep aids like Melatrol can be quite effective for you. Before buying, make sure that the medicine is free from harmful side effects.
About the Author
Mark Showalter is an expert in treating various types of sleep disorders. He has carried out series of research works that deal with the various mysteries of sleep and its associated disorders. If you find yourself to be too stressed out during the day or suffer from disorders caused by improper sleep, you may take a good medical sleep aid. You must be prudent enough to select the right one for you that would keep you away from any form of harmful side effects
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