How many stages of sleep

This is a deep sleep where muscles relax and breathing slows even more. This stage of sleep is difficult to awaken from and you may feel disoriented if an alarm or disturbance pulls you out of it.

Stage 4 is an even deeper sleep where the brain waves further slow and sleepers are very difficult to wake. The final stage of sleep is REM and this is the cycle where we dream. The eyes move rapidly behind the lids and breathing becomes shallow and rapid. The purpose of this stage and of dreams is thought to stimulate the sections of the brain that are needed for memory and learning and a way for the brain to store and sort information. REM sleep occurs approximately 90 minutes into the sleep cycle.

The length of each cycle changes throughout the night, but the typical sleeper will cycle through the stages several times before waking. For those with sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea, the deeper levels of sleep may not be reached as frequently as is normal because they are constantly being woken. Overall, your body spends the majority of the night in light sleep. How much time you spend in REM or deep can vary widely by individual but below are the averages you can expect for each stage in a single night.

All stages of sleep are important and your body naturally regulates your sleep cycles to make sure you get what you need. Tools like the Oura Ring can help you monitor your sleep patterns and generate a Sleep Score each night to help you improve your sleep. Shop Now. Meet The Community. Blog Home. Featured Articles. REM sleep is known for the most vivid dreams, which is explained by the significant uptick in brain activity.

Dreams can occur in any sleep stage, but they are less common and intense in the NREM periods. As the night goes on, REM stages get longer, especially in the second half of the night.

While the first REM stage may last only a few minutes, later stages can last for around an hour. Sleep stages are important because they allow the brain and body to recuperate and develop. Failure to obtain enough of both deep sleep and REM sleep may explain some of the profound consequences of insufficient sleep on thinking , emotions , and physical health. Sleepers who are frequently awoken during earlier stages, such as people with sleep apnea , may struggle to properly cycle into these deeper sleep stages.

People with insomnia may not get enough total sleep to accumulate the needed time in each stage. While there is a typical pattern for sleep stages, there can be substantial individual variation based on a number of factors:.

A key step is to focus on improving your sleep hygiene , which refers to your sleep environment mattress , pillow , sheets , etc. Achieving a more consistent sleep schedule, getting natural daylight exposure, avoiding alcohol before bedtime, and eliminating noise and light disruptions can help you get uninterrupted sleep and promote proper alignment of your circadian rhythm. Addressing underlying issues may pave the way for more complete and restorative sleep cycles.

Eric Suni has over a decade of experience as a science writer and was previously an information specialist for the National Cancer Institute. She specializes in helping parents establish healthy sleep habits for children. A nighttime cough is the cold symptom most likely to interfere with sleep.

Learn how to sleep with a cough…. Learn more about the causes and underlying mechanisms of REM rebound, a phenomenon in which a person temporarily experiences more…. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. The Sleep Foundation editorial team is dedicated to providing content that meets the highest standards for accuracy and objectivity.

Our editors and medical experts rigorously evaluate every article and guide to ensure the information is factual, up-to-date, and free of bias. Updated October 11, Written by Eric Suni. Medically Reviewed by Dr.

Nilong Vyas. What Are the Sleep Stages? Why Do the Sleep Stages Matter? What Affects Sleep Stages? What Is the Sleep Cycle? Are All Sleep Cycles the Same? Sign up below for your free gift. Your privacy is important to us. Was this article helpful?

Yes No. Nilong Vyas Pediatrician MD. Patel, A. Physiology, Sleep Stages. StatPearls Publishing. Natural Patterns of Sleep. Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep. Moser, D. Sleep, 32 2 , — Sleep spindles. Current biology : CB, 28 19 , R—R Yordanova, J.

Differential associations of early- and late-night sleep with functional brain states promoting insight to abstract task regularity.