This page will broaden your knowledge of sleep and the
underlying neurological, psychological and physical processes.
Quality is important - not quantity
The most comprehensive longnitudinal study into sleeping patterns involved 1.1 million
people in California. It found that people who slept over 8
hours a day had a significantly shorter life span.
It is not the quantity that is important, it is
the quality. If the quality of your is high, then 6 to 7.5
hours per day will be totally sufficient for a healthy adult.
Most people do need sleep to help them function.
For example, there is evidence that the cells in the brain reset
their sodium and pottasium levels during deep sleep. However,
there is an ongoing study in London (United Kingdom) that
involves over 4,000 people that never sleep. What is interesting
is that they seem to be mentally and physically healthy.
The quality of your sleep is highest when you
are totally synchronized with your body's natural sleep cycle.
This cycle is easily disrupted by a modern lifestyle with drugs
such as caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, artificial light and
lack of daily exercise.
Sleep is controlled by biological rhythms
There are two basic biological rhythms
Circadian Rhythms - often referred to as your body clock
which cycles in periods a little more than 24 hours. A fact
that can cause problems as will be explained later.
Ultradian Rhythms - These are rhythms that cycle more
frequently than 24 hours. The most relevant of which is your
sleep cycle which lasts around 1.5 hours. It does vary with
the individual and has been measured as lasting anywhere
between 75 and 120 minutes.
Circadian Rhythms
Your natural body clock has a cycle that lasts longer than a
day, so to stay synchronized it needs to be regularly reset.
Sunlight and habitual daily routines of exercise and eating are
the principle ways to do this. Getting up and going to sleep at
a regular times is important. Dull as it may seem, routine is
essential to your good health.
The circadian cycle is most evident in your body
temperature. Contrary to what you may have thought, this
fluctuates over the day and night and has a large effect on your
body's activity and consequently on sleep. Matching your daily
routine to this temperature fluctuation is the single best way
to reestablish a healthy sleep pattern. The
18 step insomnia program has a number of suggestions based
on this principle.
Brainwaves
To understand ultradian rhythms you need to know a little about
brain wave activity in the brain.
Brainwaves are the tiny electrical pulses, only
a few millionths of a volt, which occur during various types of
brain activity such as relaxing, learning, and thinking.
Different brainwaves can occur at the same time in different
parts of the brain.
They are recorded on an electroencephalograph
(EEG) by placing electrodes directly onto the scalp.
Brainwaves are categorized according to their
frequency, which is shown as hertz (Hz) - the number of times a
wave occurs each second.
There at least 6 categories of brain waves but
we are only going to discuss the main 4 that are related to
sleep. If you need more detail then please see the
Brainwaves
page.
Gamma 38 – 90Hz
Beta 14 - 37Hz
SMR 12 - 15Hz
Alpha 8 – 12Hz
Theta 4 – 7Hz
Delta 0.5 – 3Hz
Beta Waves Fully awake and alert.
Alpha Waves Relaxed or daydreaming. Generally associated
with right-brain thinking activity.
Theta Waves These waves are associated with flashes of
dreamlike imagery, inspiration, and your long-forgotten
memories. It is common in deep states of meditation.
Delta Waves Long, slow, undulating waves. Delta is the
slowest of all four brain wave frequencies. Most commonly
associated with deep sleep, certain frequencies in the Delta
range also trigger the release of Human Growth Hormone and so is
beneficial for healing and regeneration.
Ultradian Rhythm - Sleep Cycle
As you fall asleep the beta wave activity of your brain dies
away. It moves through a brief period of more alpha activity
before eventually theta waves and finally delta waves take over.
As already mentioned, sleep occurs in cycles of
around 90 minutes during which types of brain activity
fluctuate.
5 stages of sleep have been identified based on
this brainwave activity.
Stage 1 Drowsiness The eyes are closed during
Stage 1 sleep, but if aroused from it, a person may feel as
if he or she has not slept. Stage 1 may last for five to 10
minutes.
Stage 2 This is a period of light sleep. There
are spontaneous periods of muscle activity mixed with
periods of muscle relaxation. Muscle movements of this kind
can be seen in other stages of sleep as a reaction to
auditory stimuli. The heart rate slows, and body temperature
decreases. At this point, the body prepares to enter deep
sleep.
Stages 3 and 4 These are deep sleep stages, with
Stage 4 being more intense than Stage 3. These stages are
known as slow-wave, or delta, sleep.
Stage 5 REM REM (Rapid Eye Movement). Brainwave
activity is similar to Stage 1 but the eyes tend to move
erratically beneath eyelids.
Intense dreaming occurs during REM sleep as
a result of heightened cerebral activity, but the mind
paralyses the muscles, possibly to keep the body from acting
out the dreams and harming itself. The first period of REM
typically lasts 10 minutes, with each recurring REM stage
becoming longer, The final stage may last as long as an
hour.
Quality sleep by definition must include deep
sleep (slow wave sleep). It is deep sleep that the body
establishes as soon as it falls asleep. In studies where
subjects were deprived of sleep, the moment they were allowed to
sleep they went rapidly into a deep sleep and stayed there
longer.
The following diagram shows the cycles of sleep
for a healthy adult. Notice that as the night progresses, less
and less deep sleep is required and REM sleep becomes
progressively longer.
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