Sleep: An Overnight Coma Did you know you spend about one-third of your life sleeping (Kastner 4)? You probably spend more time sleeping than you do any other activity. That is why I find it essential to get a good night’s sleep to make that third of my life a little more satisfying. Hours and hours of research on facts that have been backed up by several reliable sources prove my work to be dependable. In order to get a good night’s sleep, it is important to understand the stages of sleep, how sound influences sleep, and how the sense of touch affects sleep. Deciding on this topic was most definitely a challenging task. However, recently, I have found it impossible to fall asleep at night or get a good night’s sleep so I feel ready for school
…show more content…
Understanding the difference is important in comprehending the more in-depth stages of sleep. As people begin to fall asleep, they enter NREM sleep, which is made up of stages one through four (“What”). NREM stands for non-rapid-eye-movement. According to the “Glossary,” it is a state of rest when a person is unaware of their environment and has almost no internal thoughts. NREM sleep takes up about seventy-five percent of the night. Dreams during this section are usually brief, less emotional, and less likely to contain visual images than REM sleep (Brenner). For most people, this is when bedwetting, nightmares, sleepwalking, and other mishaps occur (Wenk). The deepest stages of this portion of the night are known as slow-wave sleep, or SWS. Slow-wave sleep is portrayed by its abundant amount of slow-waved brain activity (“Glossary”). After the slow-wave sleep stage of NREM is REM sleep (“Stages”). REM stands for rapid-eye-movement. This is the sleeping phase of wakefulness (“REM”). Unlike NREM sleep, brain waves advance to levels experienced when someone is awake (“Stages”). This stage takes up about twenty-five percent of the evening (“What”). It is also the period most associated with dreams. If awoken during REM sleep, an individual should be able to remember their dreams. Also, during this stage, breathing becomes more brisk, limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed, and as the name rapid-eye-movement implies, one’s eyes jerk rapidly
Understanding the difference is important in comprehending the more in-depth stages of sleep. As people begin to fall asleep, they enter NREM sleep, which is made up of stages one through four (“What”). NREM stands for non-rapid-eye-movement. According to the “Glossary,” it is a state of rest when a person is unaware of their environment and has almost no internal thoughts. NREM sleep takes up about seventy-five percent of the night. Dreams during this section are usually brief, less emotional, and less likely to contain visual images than REM sleep (Brenner). For most people, this is when bedwetting, nightmares, sleepwalking, and other mishaps occur (Wenk). The deepest stages of this portion of the night are known as slow-wave sleep, or SWS. Slow-wave sleep is portrayed by its abundant amount of slow-waved brain activity (“Glossary”). After the slow-wave sleep stage of NREM is REM sleep (“Stages”). REM stands for rapid-eye-movement. This is the sleeping phase of wakefulness (“REM”). Unlike NREM sleep, brain waves advance to levels experienced when someone is awake (“Stages”). This stage takes up about twenty-five percent of the evening (“What”). It is also the period most associated with dreams. If awoken during REM sleep, an individual should be able to remember their dreams. Also, during this stage, breathing becomes more brisk, limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed, and as the name rapid-eye-movement implies, one’s eyes jerk rapidly