May 7, 2023
Written/Edited by: Fidha and Mana
The Sleep Cycle
consists of four stages total: wake, N1 (70-100 minutes long total,) N2, N3 (also known as slow-wave sleep or SWS, delta sleep, and deep sleep) and REM sleep. These three are about 90-120 minutes in total every night. However, the numbers do vary for every individual each night, influenced by many different factors (age, recent sleep patterns, alcohol consumption, etcetera.) The Ns in the stage names stand for Non-REM sleep, and the numbers rising represent your sleep deepening. As for individual stage length each cycle, N1 is 1-7 minutes, N2 is 10-25 minutes, N3 is 20-40 minutes, and REM sleep is 10-60 minutes. Today, the sleep stage that we’re going to be focusing on is REM sleep, the longest and most important one for high quality rest and therefore academic performance. REM stands for “rapid eye movement”, and this stage increases in length as the night goes on: for example, the Sleep Foundation’s professionals have confirmed that your first REM stage will most likely only last a few minutes at most, whilst stages in the second half of the night last for around an hour (ultimately, it makes up 25% of sleep time in adults.)
Now, what’s so special about REM sleep?
This is when your brain is most active (nearly as much as in your wake stage!) and you experience atonia, aside from in your eyes and respiratory muscles of course. This is when your brain produces the most dreams, and the most vivid ones at that. At this point you still may be wondering what this all has to do with academic performance. Well, REM sleep is what’s responsible for maintaining your crucial cognitive functions. Said functions include, but are not limited to, memory, creativity, and learning.
Naturally, circadian rhythm also ties into this topic, and it’s important to be informed on it. Your circadian rhythm is the schedule or “blueprint” that your brain follows, and is affected by light and dark symbolizing night and day. Physically and mentally, your behavior is changed, whether you quite realize it or not. Just one example is getting sleepy when it’s dark out. (Again, darkness symbolizes night, and so if your brain is in the routine of sleeping at night, it will automatically get sleepy!) So, how does this all tie in with your sleep cycle? Well, when your circadian rhythm is interfered with, your brain will be unable to sleep and rest properly, hindering your REM sleep and therefore your cognitive abilities. You can keep from interfering with it by staying off of your electronics excessively at night, as artificial light will trick your brain into thinking it is daytime.
As described previously in the sleep cycle, there is a stage known as REM sleep. The REM stage accounts for about 25% of sleep time, and it is critical in the development and healing of the human mind and body. Also known as the “dream” stage, many of the body’s most vital organs are able to heal during this time, which explains the importance of sleep when we are sick. As such, REM sleep is also very important in retention of memory, recovery, and, of course, academic performance. When REM sleep decreases, it has been found that people also have decreased memory retention and lack of motivation due to the lack of this very critical stage of sleep.
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