About Brain, Dreaming and Dreams Recall

When we sleep, we go t hrough f ive sleep stages. T he f irst st age is a very

light sleep f rom which it is easy t o wake up. T he second st age moves int o a
slight ly deeper sleep, and st ages t hree and f our represent our deepest sleep.
Our brain act ivit y t hroughout t hese st ages is gradually slowing down so t hat
by deep sleep, we experience not hing but delt a brain waves t he slowest
brain waves.
In a previous art icle we have described How Our Dreams Work.

Brain Waves
Our brains cycle t hrough f our t ypes of brain waves, ref erred t o as delta,
theta, alpha and beta. Each t ype of brain wave represent s a dif f erent speed
of oscillat ing elect rical volt ages in t he brain.
Delta waves are t he slowest (zero t o f our cycles per second) and are present
in deep sleep.
T heta waves (f our t o seven cycles per second) are present in st age one
when were in light sleep.
Alpha waves, operat ing at eight t o 13 cycles per second, occur during rapid
eye movement (REM) sleep (as well as when we are awake).
And Beta waves, which represent t he f ast est cycles at 13 t o 40 per second,
are usually only seen in very st ressf ul sit uat ions or sit uat ions t hat require very
st rong ment al concent rat ion and f ocus.
T hese f our brain waves make up t he electroencephalogram (EEG).

About 90 minut es af t er we go t o sleep and af t er t he f ourt h sleep st age, we

begin REM sleep.
Rapid eye movement (REM) was discovered in 1953 by Universit y of Chicago
researchers Eugene Aserinsky, a graduat e st udent in physiology, and
Nat haniel Kleit man, Ph.D., chair of physiology. REM sleep is primarily
charact erized by movement s of t he eyes and is t he f if t h st age of sleep.
We have present ed REM also in our art icle How Our Sleep Works.
During REM sleep, several physiological changes also t ake place.
T he heart rat e and breat hing quickens, t he blood pressure rises, we cant
regulat e our body t emperat ure as well and our brain act ivit y increases t o t he
same level (alpha) as when we are awake, or even higher. T he rest of t he
body, however, is essent ially paralyz ed unt il we leave REM sleep. T his
paralysis is caused by t he release of glycine, an amino acid, f rom t he brain
st em ont o t he mot oneurons (neurons t hat conduct impulses out ward f rom t he
brain or spinal cord). Because REM sleep is t he sleep st age at which most
dreaming t akes place, t his paralysis could be nat ures way of making sure we
dont act out our dreams. Ot herwise, if youre sleeping next t o someone who
is dreaming about playing kickball, you might get kicked repeat edly while you
sleep.

Read more at:

http://dor.academy/en/about-brain-dreaming-and-dreams-recall/