"[Dreams are] the royal road to the unconscious." Freud is stating, in other words, that dreams bring us down to the deep level of our unconscious mind and lets us know what is going on in there. Many people trust this statement about dreams, while others believe different theories. Sleep, the pathway to dreams, also has its mysteries. The world of sleep and dreams is a fairly uncharted area that we continue to seek further information about.
             During sleep we pass through stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM sleep. Stage 1 is light sleep, where we drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. The eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows as the body relaxes. People awakened from this stage frequently remember fragmented visual images. People often jump when they are awakened from this stage because of sudden muscle contractions called hypnic myoclonia, followed by a sensation of starting to fall. 50% of all sleep time is spent in stage 2. Eye movements stop and brain waves become slower with occasional bursts of rapid waves called spindles. In Stage 3 brain waves become even slower and are called Delta waves. It is difficult to wake someone during this stage and stage 4. In stage 4 the brain produces mostly delta waves and there is no muscle activity. People awakened during this stage often feel groggy and disoriented and are not fully alert until several minutes later. Some children experience bed wetting or sleep walking during this stage because they are so deep in sleep that they are not consciously aware of what they are doing. Newborns have a different sleep pattern. For them sleep begins with REM sleep. Their period of Non-REM sleep is 50-60 min long, the percentage of REM is much longer than Non-REM (Latner).
             20% of sleep time is spent in REM sleep. During this period of sleep, breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow, and the eyes jerk rapidly in different directions. It is not kno...