Getting enough deep sleep encourages the growth and repair of muscle tissue, which is beneficial for those doing weight training and trying to build muscle. Deep sleep is responsible for restoring and regenerating the body and brain and allows us to feel refreshed and rested when we wake up in the morning. Children and adolescents need more time in deep sleep - and sleep in general - due to its important role in growth.Įven though there is less said about this phase, it is an incredibly important part of sleep that we enter several times per night. In fact, many people incorrectly believe that REM sleep is a state of deep sleep.Īlthough there is no set requirement for deep sleep, it’s estimated that adults spend about 13-23% of total sleep time in this phase. There is a lot of talk and research around REM sleep because it is our dreaming state, but generally less is known about deep sleep. In this phase, our heart rate and breathing also speed up, and we experience dreaming. During REM sleep, we return to a lighter sleep state where the brain waves speed up and may look similar to those of someone who is awake. REM sleep is the phase that follows deep sleep and is named because our eyes move quickly from side to side during this phase. Interestingly, we experience most of our deep sleep during the earlier part of the night, and this phase becomes shorter as we move through sleep cycles.ĭuring deep sleep, the pituitary gland in the brain secretes human growth hormone (HGH), which is responsible for repairing and regenerating our energy, cells, neurons, bones, muscles and immune system. If we are woken during deep sleep, we can experience sleep inertia which results in confusion, fatigue, grogginess and poor mental performance (1).
In this state, our brain waves slow down to 1-3 Hz as we enter into a predominantly delta wave state where we are unlikely to be woken up or disrupted. The thinking mind becomes relaxed and we do not dream. When we are in deep sleep our blood pressure and heart rate drop and muscles let go completely. The third phase of NREM sleep is deep sleep - this was previously split into two separate phases but scientists have since condensed it into one. It’s relatively easy to be woken during these phases. Our heart rate and breathing slow down, muscles relax and body temperature drops. Our sleep cycle begins with phases one and two, which are stages of light sleep where our brain waves slow down and transition from an Alpha to a Theta wave state of 4-8 Hz. If we are awake but highly relaxed, our brain waves slow down to an Alpha state between 9-12 Hz. When we are in a regular waking state, we experience Beta brain waves of 14-30 Hz. Scientists discovered the different sleep phases by measuring changes in the electrical activity of the brain during sleep using an electroencephalogram (EEG). Phases one to three are called NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep, while phase four is the well-known REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. When we sleep, we go through several sleep cycles about every 80 to 110 minutes, each of which is made up of four phases.
Keep reading to learn about the different stages of sleep, why deep sleep is important and how you can get more of it. Our body and mind work to restore, regenerate and process information during sleep so that we can function optimally in daily life. However, we now know that quality sleep is a complicated, dynamic physiological process that is anything but passive. It was thought that the body and mind became inactive during sleep to rest and recover from the day’s activity. That may sound boring, but this unconscious state is actually much more interesting than previously thought.Īs recently as 70 years ago, researchers assumed the human body went into a dormant state during sleep. It’s estimated that humans spend about a third of our lives sleeping. South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands (GBP £)
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