The Sleep Architecture 4: Sleep Stages - Your Nightly Brain Maintenance Cycle

SLEEP INSIDER: Your brain cycles through 4 distinct stages each night, each with specific functions

The four stages: 

• NREM Stage 1 (5% of sleep): Light sleep transition, 1-7 minutes

• NREM Stage 2 (45% of sleep): Sleep spindles and K-complexes, memory consolidation

• NREM Stage 3 (25% of sleep): Deep sleep with delta waves, physical repair and brain detoxification

• REM Sleep (25% of sleep): Rapid eye movements, vivid dreams, emotional processing

What each stage does: 

• N2: Sleep spindles facilitate memory transfer from hippocampus to cortex

• N3: Growth hormone release, immune strengthening, glymphatic system activation for brain waste clearance

• REM: Emotional memory processing, creativity, synaptic pruning

 Optimize your sleep stages:

 • Avoid alcohol 3-4 hours before bed (suppresses REM sleep)

• Keep bedroom cool for better deep sleep

• Don't wake during deep sleep if possible (causes sleep inertia)

• Regular exercise increases time spent in restorative deep sleep

The glymphatic system discovered in 2012 increases activity by 60% during sleep, clearing amyloid-beta and tau proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease (Xie et al., 2013, Science).

Relax. Sleep Smart. Thrive,

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