
It’s one of the reasons why you should try to avoid napping for too long. If you include the second stage of sleep in the “deep sleep” category, there’s also some memory strengthening that takes place.įinally, deep sleep also impacts overall sleep pressure, so if you constantly feel tired throughout the day, it may be because you’re not getting your fill of the second and third stages of sleep. It’s one of the reasons our bodies crave more sleep when we’re run down. That includes muscles, bones, tissues, and even the immune system. There are still plenty of unknowns when it comes to the brain and sleep, but researchers agree that the main purpose of deep sleep is for repairing and restoring the body. If you’re in deep sleep, you likely won’t know it yourself since, as the name suggests, you’re deeply unconscious. And in order to confirm that you’ve entered this stage, those waves need to make up more than 20% of an EEG chart. The third and final stage of non-REM sleep is the true “deep sleep.” In it, these large spikes in brain activity widen out, turning into delta waves.

Some have called this stage “deeper sleep.” Our brain even starts to suppress outside stimuli at this time. During stage two, the waves get bigger as we begin to really conk out.

And you can tell that we’re falling asleep by looking at the changing brain waves on an EEG chart.ĭuring stage one, these waves are a little shallower and we’re still only starting to drift off. The first three fall under the “non-Rapid Eye Movement” (non-REM) umbrella.ĭuring the non-REM stage, our brains drift deeper and deeper into sleep. When your head hits the pillow, you transition from one stage of sleep to another, each with characteristics that make them stand out.

#Light sleep vs rem vs deep sleep how to#
However, for most people there’s one general blueprint for how much deep sleep they need, and how to get it. How much time depends a little on age and also individual sleep needs. Digging into the finer details of sleep and hearing about the different stages? Curious about how much deep sleep you need?ĭeep sleep is a vital part of our body’s daily revitalization project, and it takes time.
