SLEEP

Neural Mechanics of Sleep



Neural Mechanics of Sleep

The Neural Mechanisms of Sleep

Sleep is the act of entering a resting state. Sleep is extremely vital for mammals as several important metabolic processes occur in the body while we are asleep. Sleep contributes to our physical and psychological well being (Walker, 2009). Many specialists say that the act of sleep is critical for the life of any human being. Energy recovery and the time to process all the information gathered during the day takes place. Sleep is and has always been the most time-consuming activity throughout our lives. During sleep, the body enters a state of uniform rest. It is characterized by low levels of physiological activity (blood pressure, breathing, heart beat) and a minor response to external stimuli (Morrissey 2004). Experts claim that sleep disturbances may be significant barriers to recovery from illness.

There is consistent evidence that sleep deprivation causes increased risk of diabetes, blood hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The dreams also contribute to mental and emotional wellbeing. People who manage to sleep well have a greater ability to concentrate, self-control tasks at a personal and professional level. Sleep deprivation negatively alters the ability of concentration, learning, logical reasoning and memory of the individual. In relation to the amount of sleep needed for a proper rest, there is no consensus among experts. However, in many of the cases, the ideal time span is around seven hours (Morrissey, 2004).

Phases of Sleep

Sleep has a significant impact on our daily life and body functioning. It also affects our mental and physical health in various ways. The most viable example is waking up and having fatigued feeling like one has never. On the other hand, when one sleeps well one tends to be focused and all ready to face the new day slept (Legramante & Galante 2005).

Basically sleep can be divided into 2 complete phases:

REM (Rapid Eye Movement)

NREM (Movement of Non-Rapid Eye)

Stages of Sleep

The NREM state is divided into four phases:

Stage 1

This is the stage of drowsiness, where the individual begins to feel the first sensations of sleep. At this stage the one can be easily awakened as one is partially awake.

Stage 2

It lasts on an average of 5 to 15 minutes. The heart activity is reduced, the body is in a state of relaxation, the muscles and the body temperature drops. It's is slightly harder to wake the individual as compared to the previous stage.

Stage 3

This stage is similar to Stage 4. The difference is in terms of the depth of sleep.

Stage 4

It lasts for about 40 minutes.

This volume of sleep required varies for each person and depends on factors such as age, occupation and lifestyle (Gilmartin & Thomas 2004). For example, a child needs around 16 hours of sleep, teenagers need about 9 hours of sleep and most adults need 8 hours on average. Pregnancy is another factor that impacts the pattern of sleep. Pregnant women usually suffer from back problems as a result of higher ...