Define rem sleep and provide a link to support your theory if you have one.?

Answer 1

During REM sleep you are in a sleep deep enough to provide the rest necessary so that when you are awake you can make good judgments vs. the rash judgments of criticizing someone for their question and referring to them as a blonde instead of actually investigating who the person could actually be. SURELY you did not sleep well last night and reach the REM level or you would NEVER have been so rash as to have made such a quick judgment and referred to me as just another dumb blonde writing another dumb question. So I pray you have a restful sleep tonight and wake with a new impression of people and how one should treat the world. If not, surely you can find others that have not reached a good ole REM sleep either and commiserate together. Thank you Johnny.....and please....be good.

Answer 2

REM sleep is when you go to bed playing "Losing my religion," "It's the end of the world (as we know it)," and other songs by the band in a loop.

I know they're not Lynyrd Skynyrd or Billy Ray Cyrus, so you have probably never heard of them. But they come from the redneck state of GA, so maybe you've heard grumblings about them in front of the barber shop. Oh, wait. Barber shop? Maybe not.

Answer 3

rem is rapid eye movement sleep.its 4m rem u get up 4m sleep.rem is followed by nrem.it goes on cycles,till rem lasts longer thoan nrem.then u get up 4m sleep

Answer 4

I don't think I need to prove anything to you or provide a link....lol

Answer 5

Try this one!
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005545/english/sleep/REM.htm?tqskip1=1

Answer 6

Rapid eye movement (REM) is the stage of sleep characterized by rapid saccadic movements of the eyes. During this stage, the activity of the brain's neurons is quite similar to that during waking hours; for this reason, the phenomenon is often called paradoxical sleep. Most of the vividly recalled dreams occur during REM sleep. It is the lightest form of sleep, and people awakened during REM usually feel alert and refreshed. REM sleep is so physiologically different from the other phases of sleep that the others are collectively referred to as non-REM sleep.

During a night of sleep, a person usually has about four or five periods of REM sleep, which are quite short at the beginning of the night and longer at the end. It is common to wake for a short time at the end of a REM phase. The total time of REM sleep per night is about 90-120 minutes for an adult. However, the relative amount of REM sleep varies considerably with age. A newborn baby spends more than 80% of total sleep time in REM mode, while people over 70 years old spend less than 10%. The average is 20%.

Stages
Since the early 20th century, human sleep has been described as a succession of five recurring stages: four non-REM stages and the REM stage. A sixth stage, waking, is often included. Waking, in this context, is actually the phase during which a person falls asleep. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is marked by extensive physiological changes, such as accelerated respiration, increased brain activity, eye movement, and muscle relaxation. People dream during REM sleep, perhaps as a result of excited brain activity and the paralysis of major voluntary muscles.

Sleep quality changes with transition from one sleep stage into another. Although the signals for transition between the five (or six) stages of sleep are mysterious, it is important to remember that these stages are, in fact, discretely independent of one another, each marked by subtle changes in bodily function and each part of a predictable cycle whose intervals are observable. Sleep stages are monitored and examined clinically with polysomnography, which provides data regarding electrical and muscular states during sleep.

Waking
The waking stage is referred to as relaxed wakefulness, because this is the stage in which the body prepares for sleep. All people fall asleep with tense muscles, their eyes moving erratically. Then, normally, as a person becomes sleepier, the body begins to slow down. Muscles begin to relax, and eye movement slows to a roll.

Stage 1
Stage 1 sleep, or drowsiness, is often described as first in the sequence, especially in models where waking is not included. Polysomnography shows a 50% reduction in activity between wakefulness and stage 1 sleep. 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
Stage 2 is a period of light sleep during which polysomnographic readings show intermittent peaks and valleys, or positive and negative waves. These waves indicate spontaneous periods of muscle tone mixed with periods of muscle relaxation. Muscle tone 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. During slow-wave sleep, especially during Stage 4, the electromyogram records slow waves of high amplitude, indicating a pattern of deep sleep and rhythmic continuity.

Non-REM Sleep
The period of non-REM sleep (NREM)is comprised of Stages 1-4 and lasts from 90 to 120 minutes, each stage lasting anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Surprisingly, however, Stages 2 and 3 repeat backwards before REM sleep is attained. So, a normal sleep cycle has this pattern: waking, stage 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM. Usually, REM sleep occurs 90 minutes after sleep onset.

Stage 5, REM
REM sleep is distinguishable from NREM sleep by changes in physiological states, including its characteristic rapid eye movements. However, polysomnograms show wave patterns in REM to be similar to Stage 1 sleep. In normal sleep (in people without disorders of sleep-wake patterns or REM behavior disorder), heart rate and respiration speed up and become erratic, while the face, fingers, and legs may twitch. Intense dreaming occurs during REM sleep as a result of heightened cerebral activity, but paralysis occurs simultaneously in the major voluntary muscle groups, including the submental muscles (muscles of the chin and neck). Because REM is a mixture of encephalic (brain) states of excitement and muscular immobility, it is sometimes called paradoxical sleep. It is generally thought that REM-associated muscle paralysis is meant to keep the body from acting out the dreams that occur during this intensely cerebral stage. The first period of REM typically lasts 10 minutes, with each recurring REM stage lengthening, and the final one lasting an hour.

Sleep Cycle
The five stages of sleep, including their repetition, occur cyclically. The first cycle, which ends after the completion of the first REM stage, usually lasts for 100 minutes. Each subsequent cycle lasts longer, as its respective REM stage extends. So a person may complete five cycles in a typical night’s sleep.

Factors that Affect Sleep Stage and the Sleep Cycle
The sleep cycle is variable, influenced by several agents. Sleep cycles subsequent to the first one in a night’s sleep typically feature less slow-wave sleep, as Stages 3 and 4 shorten. Slow-wave, deep sleep is longest early in a night’s sleep. Generally, sleep disorders affect the quality, duration, and onset of sleep. Sleep deprivation, frequently changing sleep schedule, stress, and environment all affect the progression of the sleep cycle. Rapid eye movement latency (the time it takes a person to achieve REM sleep) may be affected by a sleep disorder like narcolepsy. Psychological conditions like depression shorten the duration of rapid eye movement. Also, treatment for psychiatric conditions often positively affects sleep, typically inducing some desired change in sleep habit. For example, antidepressants like Prozac® usually quicken sleep onset and lengthen REM stages. People who take antidepressants often benefit from the effects they have on the quality and duration of the sleep cycle.

Age
The percentage of REM sleep is highest during infancy and early childhood, drops off during adolescence and young adulthood, and decreases further in older age. Of course, infants require the greatest amount of sleep. As parents know, total sleep time typically becomes shorter during childhood and may become longer again in adolescence. The stage-respective dimensions of sleep change relative to age. Stages 3 and 4 in the first sleep cycle shorten even more dramatically in older people than they do during a typical night for everyone else, so older people get less total deep sleep than younger people do. Also with age comes the lengthening of the first REM stage. Older people commonly enter REM sleep quicker and stay there longer.