REM and NREM sleep Flashcards
(15 cards)
characteristics of sleep
reduced ability to control our behaviour, reduction in control over thoughts, less accurate understanding of the passage of time, perceptual and cognitive distortions
sleep
a naturally occuring altered state of consciousness trhat can be further categorised into REM and NREM sleep
REM stands for
rapid eye movment
NREM stands for
non rapid eye movement
sleep episode
the full duration of time spent asleep (usually 8 hours) and is made up of 5 sleep cycles
sleep cycle
90 minutes of sleep, consisting of REM and NREM
hypnogram
a sleep graph which tracks how much sleep an individual has experienced
characteristics of REM sleep
highly active brain and a less active body, vivid dreaming that can be recalled and makes up approx 20-25% of a sleep episode for most age groups
REM sleep
light stage of sleep, despite muscle paralysis, the brain is active and sleepers can be easily woken
characteristics of NREM
less active brain, more active body (muscle movement is possible), dreams can occur, but are less vivid (not frequently recalled), makes up approx 75-80% of a sleep episode
what are the 3 stages of NREM sleep
NREM stage 1, NREM stage 2 and NREM stage 3
NREM stage 1
the sleeper transitions from being awake to a light sleep. In this stage the sleeper loses awareness of themselves and their surroundings but is still aware of faint sounds in the environment (easily woken), may experience a hypnotic jerk
hypnotic jerk
feelings of floating or falling, or a sudden jerk
NREM stage 2
relatively light sleep, where individuals spend majority of their sleep, ‘truly’ asleep due to the types of brain waves occuring
NREM stage 3
deep stage of sleep (difficult to wake), sleepwalking and sleeptalking is most likely to occur here, if woken, the sleeper is likely to feel drowsy or disorientated
