What Happens During Light Sleep Stage

During this stage your breathing is the slowest it is during sleep and you re unlikely to be awoken by loud noises.

What happens during light sleep stage.

It occurs in stages 1 2. Muscles relax and may jerk. Light sleep may not sound very important but it is a part of our sleep cycle that we need to wake up feeling refreshed from restful sleep. Most dreaming occurs during the fourth stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement rem sleep.

The first stage of light sleep is a transition phase and only makes up about 3 of our. Nrem 75 of night. This is a light nrem sleep that doesn. Becoming disengaged from surroundings.

Then brain waves slow down. N2 formerly stage 2 onset of sleep. During this stage which is also fairly light the brain produces sudden increases in brain wave frequency known as sleep spindles. During this stage your muscles begin to relax your heart rate and breathing slow down and you wake up easily.

Deep sleep or slow wave sleep is the third stage of non rem sleep. Sleep stages 1 2 and rem consist of light sleep while 3 and 4 comprise deep sleep. Neuroscientists strongly suspect that the brain transfers memories from short term storage to long term storage during stage 2 making this form of sleep essential for learning. If you were to schedule a power nap you d want to wake up after this stage of sleep.

Light sleep initiates your sleep cycle and acts as a transition to deeper sleep stages. As we begin to fall asleep we enter nrem sleep which is composed of stages 1 4. The american sleep foundation suggests that people spend approximately 20 of their total sleep in this stage. During stage 1 you drift from being awake to being asleep.

Although the body completes a few cycles throughout the night the third stage occurs in longer periods during the first part of. Light sleep is a non rem or nrem sleep stage and it s easiest to wake up during this time. Each of your later rem stages gets longer and the final one may last up to an hour. You may experience less.

Then brain waves slow down. Memory is backed up in light sleep. Breathing and heart rate are. The body rests during light sleep and cell repair occurs although perhaps not to the extent that happens in deep sleep.

Body temperature drops. During light sleep you can expect the following. N1 formerly stage 1 between being awake and falling asleep. Rem sleep is characterized by eye movement increased respiration rate and increased brain activity.

Deep sleep occurs in the final stage of non rem sleep.