Slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep

People go through two stages of sleep: slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep. Here are two characteristics of sleep and ways to improve the quality of sleep.

Slow Wave Sleep

Slow wave sleep, also known as orthodox sleep or slow eye movement sleep, is abbreviated as SWS, which refers to the third and fourth sleep stages. At this stage, people who wake up for reasons will feel confused and not very awake. If you are deprived of this sleep, although after a few hours, the body is still asked by the brain to resume unfinished slow wave sleep.

Normal sleep is divided into two phases: rapid wave sleep and slow wave sleep, which can be transformed into each other. A sleep cycle consists of a slow wave sleep and a rapid wave sleep, each lasting about 90 minutes. People usually go through 4 to 6 sleep cycles a night.

Slow wave sleep can be divided into four stages from shallow to deep. The first and second stages are called shallow sleep, and the third and fourth are called deep sleep. Deep sleep is of great value to restore the mental and physical strength of the human body. In the whole slow wave sleep, parasympathetic nerve activity is dominant, which can slow down the heart rate, decrease blood pressure, increase gastrointestinal activity and relax the muscles of the whole body.

Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Rapid eye movement sleep, also known as rapid wave sleep, is abbreviated as REM sleep. Rapid eye movement sleep affects the secretion of auxin in sleep to a certain extent. After entering slow wave sleep, auxin secretion increased significantly, and decreased after transfer to rapid eye movement sleep. After entering the REM sleep, the various sensory functions are further reduced, the exercise function is further reduced, the muscles are almost completely relaxed, the motion system is strongly inhibited, but the activity of the autonomic nervous system is enhanced, such as blood pressure rise, heart rate and respiration acceleration, and the cerebral blood flow and the oxygen consumption increase.

Tips To Improve Sleep Quality.

1. The time for going to bed every night and getting up every morning is as fixed as possible. Try not to take a nap during the day, because a nap may make you less sleepy at night.

2. Choose the right bedding, such as memory foam mattress and memory foam pillow. This material has memorability, can give good support to the body, reduce back stress, improve sleep quality.

3. Avoid caffeine, nicotine, alcohol in the evening. Caffeine and nicotine are irritants that keep you awake. Alcohol can keep you awake at night or affect the quality of sleep.

4. Practice regularly. Try not to practice before you go to bed, because it may make you excited and difficult to sleep. Try to arrange the practice outside 3 to 4 hours before bedtime.

5. Don't eat greasy food during the day. A little bedtime snack may help you sleep.

6. Make your bedroom more comfortable. Make sure the bedroom is dark, quiet, not too hot or too cold. If the light is not dimmed, try the eye shield. If the noise is too large, try using the earplugs.

7. If you can't sleep, you can get up and read some books until you feel sleepy.