Sleep

             Sleep is a phenomenon that amazes every individual. It is an essential part of our daily life; it not only affects our daily functioning, but it also affects our physical and mental health in many ways. It gives our body the opportunity to rest and restore itself. Although sleep is thought to be a simple task, the process behind it is far more complicated than that.
             Sleep has five different phases that each human being passes through. The first stage is called "light sleep". This is the stage in which the individual drifts in and out of sleep and could be awakened by any sudden move or jerk. In this stage the person might also experience a sudden muscle contraction as a result of a falling sensation. This stage is also considered a transitional stage where a person begins to become unaware of his or her surroundings and starts to drift off into a deeper form of sleep. During this stage, a person begins to picture images that are not very lucid. Everyday activities tend to be pictured, such as driving a car or moving objects. It lacks the peculiar content in which a dream might contain.
             Once this stage has passed, the stage two takes over. This stage is defined by the appearance of sleep spindles and K complex. Sleep spindles are "brief bursts of brain activity that last a second or two", and K complexes are "single but large high-voltage spikes of brain activity that periodically occur". Brain activity tends to slow down during this stage and our eye movements stop. We spend about 50% of our total sleep time in this stage, making it the most important stage.
             After stage 2, the individual drifts off to stage 3, which is a higher level of sleep called deep sleep. During this stage, extremely slow brain waves appear. These waves are called delta waves. When the brain activity is represented by 20% of these waves, it is in stage 3. However, when the delta brain waves represent 50% of the brain activit...

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Sleep. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 13:22, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/10377.html