Children aged six to nine need nine to 11 hours a night, but may get by on seven to eight. Sleep and Athletic Performance.So how much is the right amount of sleep? The new guidelines not only give recommended amounts, but also state what might be appropriate for different ages. Sleep and the athlete: narrative review and 2021 expert consensus recommendations. Effect of Sleep Extension on Objectively Assessed Energy Intake Among Adults With Overweight in Real-life Settings: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Insomnia and the risk of depression: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Cognitive benefits of last night’s sleep: Daily variations in children’s sleep behavior are related to working memory fluctuations. Sleep quality and duration are associated with greater trait emotional intelligence. How does sleep affect your heart health? (2021).The relationships between insomnia, sleep apnoea and depression: Findings from the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005–2008. Sleep Spindles: Mechanisms and Functions. Sleep Inconsistency and Markers of Inflammation. Sleep deprivation and obesity in adults: a brief narrative review.

Getting adequate rest may also help prevent excess weight gain, heart disease, and increased illness duration.

Sleep is important because it enables the body to repair and be fit and ready for another day. Sleep is a vital, often neglected, component of every person’s overall health and well-being. People spend around 25% of total sleep time in REM sleep, with each cycle lasting from 10 minutes to an hour. Experts believe a person needs some REM and non-REM sleep for memory consolidation. It usually begins about 90 minutes after a person falls asleep.Ī person’s eyes move rapidly from side to side with eyelids closed during this stage, and heart rate and breathing increase.īrain activity becomes closer to that seen in wakefulness, but arm and leg muscles become paralyzed to stop a person from acting out their dreams. This is the stage of sleep where dreaming and nightmares mostly occur. A person needs this stage of sleep to wake up feeling refreshed. In this stage, a person’s body repairs itself, regrows tissues, strengthens the immune system, and builds bone and muscle. This stage is the hardest to awaken from, and when sleepwalking, bedwetting, and night terrors occur. This is the deepest stage of sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS), and accounts for about 25% of total sleep time.Ī person’s heart rate, breathing, and brain waves slow to their lowest levels, and muscles completely relax. This stage typically lasts around 25 minutes in the first cycle, with time increasing in each cycle. People spend most of their total sleep time in stage 2 (about 45%). Studies suggest sleep spindles help with memory consolidation.

Their body temperature drops and eye movements stop.Ī person’s brain-wave activity slows but they experience brief bursts of electrical activity, known as sleep spindles. In this stage, a person’s heart rate slows and muscles relax further. Their muscles also relax, with occasional twitching.Ī person usually spends only 5% of their total sleep time in stage 1, which typically lasts several minutes at a time. In this stage, a person’s brain waves, heartbeat, breathing, and eye movements slow. This is the lightest stage of NREM sleep, where a person transitions from wakefulness to sleep. Read on to find out more about each stage of sleep. The body cycles through each stage around four to six times over the course of a night. The final stage is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, where dreaming mostly occurs. Three of these stages are non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, with each stage a progressively deeper sleep. When people sleep, their body goes through four stages of sleep.

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