Adequate sleep is very important for maintaining the vital functions of the body. It performs several important functions that are responsible for restoring the body and processing the information received during the day. Even in ancient times, it was believed that the best cure for any disease is sleep. Types of sleep have their own characteristics and affect brain activity in different ways.
What are the benefits of sleep
During sleep, the speed of all body systems decreases, which contributes to complete rest. The breathing processes slow down, the work of the cardiovascular system and the functioning of the brain departments decrease.
Memory processes are also affected by the quality of sleep. During a night's rest, the brain analyzes the information that has been received throughout the day, and then determines the necessary factors in long-term memory, and erases information garbage from memory, unloading it and providing full-fledged work the next day.
REM and slow sleep have their own characteristics that have a positive effect on the work of the human body.
Sleep phases
There are two main phases:
- fast (light sleep stage) –characterized by a slight increase in brain activity, it is in this phase that a person dreams;
- slow (deep sleep stage) - no dreams, reduced activity of all body systems.
REM sleep has several stages:
- falling asleep;
- shallow sleep;
- deep sleep (delta stage).
Sleep for most people is an anti-stress factor. It has been noticed more than once that during a night's rest, many everyday problems, conflicts are mentally solved, ideas come. Fast and slow sleep, cyclically replacing each other, fill the body with energy for an active next day.
Sleep cycle
Night sleep in he althy people has approximately the same number of cycles and their duration. During sleep, about 4-5 full cycles with alternating phases of sleep pass. Immediately after falling asleep, a person begins orthodox sleep (slow), which has a duration of 45-90 minutes, by morning its duration is significantly reduced.
Paradoxical (rapid) sleep at the beginning of the night has a short duration, and by morning it becomes more frequent. Full REM sleep provides a feeling of lightness and cheerfulness in the morning. If a person does not sleep well during this phase, then the morning will be accompanied by a feeling of lethargy and fatigue.
A person needs to sleep 5-10 hours a day to ensure he alth. This difference is determined by the individual with the characteristics of the body, gender and age indicators, as well as the waylife.
Quality sleep ensures the restoration of brain activity, the maintenance of the functioning of all vital systems, as well as the distribution and processing of the information received during the day.
What factors affect sleep quality
Throughout the day, the body should receive an evenly distributed load, both mental and physical. It is observed that people who lead a sedentary lifestyle are more likely to suffer from insomnia, fall asleep hard and sleep poorly. While a little physical activity contributes to the rapid relaxation of the body and the onset of a good night's rest.
Emotional fullness of the current day is also important for the full flow of sleep. Any bursts or lack of emotions during the day affect the quality of the night's rest. Therefore, it is important to evenly distribute the load on the body and influence it in many ways.
By creating emotional states during the day, alternating with physical stress, you will eventually be able to get a deep and restful sleep. Types of sleep will also alternate evenly, restoring the body.
Characterization of dreams
In one night, a person can have several dreams or one plot that dreams during the paradoxical phase. In general, the duration of dreams reaches two hours. During dreams, the sleeping person has an active movement of the eyeballs (while the eyes are closed), movements can be carried out both in horizontal and vertical planes.
You can remember a dream only by waking up at a certainperiod. This must be the phase of paradoxical sleep. REM sleep provides memorization of a dream to the smallest detail. A few minutes after the end of the paradoxical phase, the plot of the dream is completely forgotten. That is why it often seems to a person that dreams are not dreaming, as he wakes up in the non-REM sleep phase.
Lunch break
Medical research indicates a positive effect on the body of daytime rest - siesta. In many countries, even in ancient times, this was considered an obligatory part of the daily regimen. If you take a nap for about half an hour at least several times a week, the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases will be reduced by a third.
From the research data it is clear that even an adult needs daytime sleep. Types of sleep in this case have a different cycle and duration. In such a short period of time, a person cannot achieve deep sleep.
Pathological types of sleep
There are three main pathological states of sleep:
- drowsy;
- insomnia;
- sleepwalking.
All of them have a negative impact on the process of recovery of the body, lead to the appearance of disorders in the nervous system (psychosis, neurosis, depression, organic diseases of the brain).
Hypersomnia occurs against the background of a person suffering from infectious diseases, anemia or nervous disorders. In such states, the body needs more hours to rest and recover. Therefore, it is recommended to allowthe body to fully recover, and only after that return to the usual regimen and loads.
Insomnia occurs after stressful situations, information overload of the brain, sleep disturbances, and excessive physical exertion. Often insomnia indicates the beginning of the development of somatic diseases or mental disorders.
Exposure to external factors (for example, electric light) can also cause insomnia, especially if the body has not received the necessary physical and psycho-emotional stress during the day. Sleep in this case is too superficial, sensitive, a reaction to any external stimuli is manifested. The time of REM sleep in such people increases significantly, so there is no quality rest of the body.
Sleepwalking
This sleep disorder often manifests itself in childhood, especially for children with an unbalanced psyche. As a rule, this disease disappears with age. The detection of symptoms of somnambulism requires careful attention and examination. In some cases, medical treatment may be needed.
During deep sleep, sleepwalking is usually less common than during REM sleep. The process of sleepwalking is completely erased from memory, a person does not remember where he was and what he did, although in this state he is able to fulfill requests and perform habitual actions.
Every person, regardless of age and gender, needsquality sleep. Types of sleep during the night's rest will ensure the restoration of tired body systems.
