![deep sleep stage deep sleep stage](http://cdn.differencebetween.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/REM-vs-Deep-Sleep.jpg)
In other words, the more sleep spindles you have, the less likely you are to wake up at night. If you have more of these brainwaves you are less sensitive to external stimuli. They are generated in an ancient part of the brain called the thalamus. Sleep Spindle brainwaves play a role in sensory processing, synaptic plasticity, and memory consolidation. N2 is more often characterized by having certain brainwaves that are thought to be crucial to how we form memories throughout the day and maintain deep regenerative sleep, including Sleep Spindles and K-Complexes.ĭefined: Happen in stage 2 NREM sleep and are characterized as bursts in neuron activity between the thalamic reticular nuclei and is designed to help keep us asleep. But before we delve much deeper, let's keep in mind that the light and deep stages of sleep follow a gradient and aren’t as clearly defined as you may think. N2 light sleep has more regenerative processes than N1 with two unique brainwaves that also characterize this stage. It is ideal to wake up during light sleep, especially N1 light sleep, as you will be able to wake up much more easily and feel more alert than waking up in either of the other sleep stages. If you wake up for less than 5 minutes, you also may not remember that you woke up at all during this stage.
![deep sleep stage deep sleep stage](https://www.sleepresolutions.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Images/knitting_woman.jpg)
If woken during light sleep, you might not even have noticed that you were asleep. It makes sense that since light sleep is the closest sleep stage to being awake, we are most easily awoken during this stage. Instead, our light sleep dreams are flashes of memories or images that usually don’t form any coherent narrative.
![deep sleep stage deep sleep stage](https://fthmb.tqn.com/O414LZA4Oh9ovm7YJXUt9-MaWCc=/5331x3583/filters:fill(87E3EF,1)/PSG-56a884313df78cf7729e818c.jpg)
But the dreams in light sleep aren’t the fully formed stories that we usually characterize as dreams. A common misconception is that we don’t dream in this stage, but we actually have flashes of dreams. Light sleep has more similarities to being awake than the other stages, especially N1 light sleep, in that we can talk, move, and regulate our body temperature while we are in light sleep. Most wearable algorithms like SleepSpace on the Apple Watch, Oura Ring, and Fitbit combined two stages of sleep to determine light sleep, known as N1 and N2 sleep. We spend the majority of the night in Light sleep. Sometimes our bodies cycle through each stage quickly, whereas other times we linger in certain sleep stages. It’s common for your body to complete all of these stages in a 90-minute cycle, but this timing can vary. In a healthy night of sleep, we cycle through the sleep stages four to five times. It’s common to bounce between light sleep and REM as you sleep throughout the night.īelow are typical brainwaves in the different sleep stages:
![deep sleep stage deep sleep stage](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61ef3f0yLZL._AC_US800_.jpg)
Many people cycle through these stages throughout the night in the pattern of: Light deep → Deep sleep → Light sleep → REM, but these cycles can vary. Light sleep and deep sleep are similar in that they are both forms of non-rem sleep, where the body does not have the intense dreams that characterize REM sleep. N1 and N2 sleep are thought of as light sleep while N3 and N4 are considered deep sleep. There is some debate on how many stages there are, with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine distinguishing 4 stages of sleep (REM, N1, N2, N3) and the European Academy of Sleep Medicine distinguishing 5 stages of sleep (REM, N1, N2, N3, N4). When we sleep, our body cycles through distinct sleep cycles, also known as sleep stages. The science of sleep as we know it was discovered relatively recently when a laboratory at The University of Chicago hooked people’s brains up to electrodes and observed REM sleep in 1953.