Is it true that there are different levels of sleep?

Question

I heard from someone that if you dream, you are not sleeping deeply enough. I asked my mom about it, and she said she didn't know, but she thought there were different levels of sleep. Do you have any input for me?

Answer 1

My father has sleep apnea, and when he went to the doctors appointment , the doctor told him that we have different levels of sleep. Doctors have identified five levels of sleep.

Answer 2

Usually sleepers pass through five stages: 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These stages progress cyclically from 1 through REM then begin again with stage 1. A complete sleep cycle takes an average of 90 to 110 minutes. The first sleep cycles each night have relatively short REM sleeps and long periods of deep sleep but later in the night, REM periods lengthen and deep sleep time decreases.


Stage 1 is light sleep where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. In this stage, the eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows. During this stage, many people experience sudden muscle contractions preceded by a sensation of falling.


In stage 2, eye movement stops and brain waves become slower with only an occasional burst of rapid brain waves. When a person enters stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves. In stage 4, the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. Stages 3 and 4 are referred to as deep sleep, and it is very difficult to wake someone from them. In deep sleep, there is no eye movement or muscle activity. This is when some children experience bedwetting, sleepwalking or night terrors.


In the REM period, breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly and limb muscles are temporarily paralyzed. Brain waves during this stage increase to levels experienced when a person is awake. Also, heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, males develop erections and the body loses some of the ability to regulate its temperature. This is the time when most dreams occur, and, if awoken during REM sleep, a person can remember the dreams. Most people experience three to five intervals of REM sleep each night.


Infants spend almost 50% of their time in REM sleep. Adults spend nearly half of sleep time in stage 2, about 20% in REM and the other 30% is divided between the other three stages. Older adults spend progressively less time in REM sleep.


As sleep research is still a relatively young field, scientists did not discover REM sleep until 1953 when new machines were developed to monitor brain activity. Before this discovery it was believed that most brain activity ceased during sleep. Since then, scientists have also disproved the idea that deprivation of REM sleep can lead to insanity and have found that lack of REM sleep can alleviate clinical depression although they do not know why. Recent theories link REM sleep to learning and memory.

Answer 3

3 stages, And the studies are fascinating. but dreams supposedly occurs in REM (rapid eye movement ) phase which is a lighter sleep with respect to brain wavers. Its not a reflection on how much rest your getting.

Answer 4

There are 4/5 stages of sleep if you would googl sleep stages, you can read about them.

Answer 5

Yes... here is how i would put it...

If your dreaming--- your not sleeping deeply enough (like u said)

If your sleeping but not snoring--- your sleeping normaly

If your sleeping and snoring--- your very tired.

Answer 6

Non-REM accounts for 75–80% of total sleep time, and consists of four stages:
Stage 1, with near-disappearance of the alpha waves seen in awake states, and appearance for the first time of theta waves. The stage is sometimes referred to as somnolence, or "drowsy sleep". It appears at sleep onset (as it is mostly a transition state into Stage 2) and is associated with the sudden twitches or hypnic jerks many people experience when falling asleep. While these are normal and of no concern, the hypnagogic hallucinations which some people may experience at this stage can be more troublesome. During this period, the subject loses some muscle tone, and conscious awareness of the external environment: Stage 1 can be thought of as a gateway state between wake and sleep.
Stage 2, with "sleep spindles" (12–16 Hz) and "K-complexes." The EMG lowers, and conscious awareness of the external environment disappears. This occupies 45–55% of total sleep.
Stage 3, with delta waves, also called delta rhythms (.5–4 Hz), is considered part of slow-wave sleep (SWS) and functions primarily as a transition into stage four. Overall it occupies 3–8% of total sleep time.
Stage 4 is true delta sleep. It predominates the first third of the night and accounts for 10–15% of total sleep time. This is often described as the deepest stage of sleep; it is exceedingly difficult to wake a subject in this state. This is the stage in which night terrors, bed wetting, sleepwalking, and sleep-talking occur.
REM sleep is popularly associated with dreaming, especially bizarre, visual, and seemingly random dreams; however, dreams can also occur during sleep onset (hypnogogia) and during all stages of Non-REM sleep.[4] REM sleep is predominant in the final third of a sleep period; its timing is linked to circadian rhythm and body temperature. The EEG in this period is aroused and looks similar to stage 1, and sometimes includes beta waves. Also known as Stage 5 sleep.
Active Sleep is a phase of sleep in neonates that appears similar to Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep in adults. While it depends on age, neonatal sleep is sometimes scored as Active Sleep, Quiet Sleep, and Wake. This is less specific than the classification of adult's sleep, and is often based on behavioral criteria due to the technical difficulties arising from recording EEG from the neonate.
Scientists are divided on the precise relation between Active Sleep and REM sleep. Some suggest that they are similar, while others say it is an entirely different state, which represents aspects of the developing CNS that are not present in a mature brain, and that certain aspects of REM are not present in Active Sleep due to the immaturity of the CNS in the neonate.

Sleep proceeds in cycles of NREM and REM phases. In humans, the cycle of REM and NREM is approximately 90 minutes. Each stage may have a distinct physiological function. Drugs such as alcohol and sleeping pills can suppress certain stages of sleep (see Sleep deprivation). This can result in a sleep that exhibits loss of consciousness but does not fulfill its physiological functions.

Each sleep stage is not necessarily uniform. Within a given stage, a cyclical alternating pattern may be observed.

Both REM sleep and NREM sleep stages 3 and 4 are homeostatically driven; that is, selective deprivation of each of these states subsequently causes a rebound in their appearance once the person is allowed to sleep. This finding leads to the ubiquitous assumption that both are essential in the sleep process and its many functions. REM sleep may also be driven by a circadian oscillator, as studies have shown that REM is temporally coupled with the circadian rhythm of temperature.

Answer 7

YUP... i forgot the levels though... i just saw it in the news when the reporter interviewed a doctor about it.. :) google it.. :P Ciao.

Answer 8

yeah when ure dreaming you should show signs of REM (rapid eye movement)

Answer 9

yes - you are in REM (rapid eye movement) speel when dreaming