The Basic Sleep Cycle and Dreams

This is a fascinating topic and we will start by first understanding the basic sleep cycle: There are five sleep stages Four of them are non-REM (NREM, non-rapid eye movement) And the fifth one is REM (rapid eye movement).

Non-REM & REM Non-REM is also known as “quiet sleep” because the body’s physiological functions and brain activity slow down. The REM stage is where dreaming occurs (we will talk much more about this stage later).

See Below: There are 4-5 cycles of light to deep sleep averaging about 90 minutes to complete one cycle from stage 1 NREM to end of REM; As REM sleep increases, NREM decreases with each subsequent cycle.

There are different brain waves associated with each stage:

Beta Brain Waves While Awake our brains have beta brain waves, which are small and fast. Beta brain waves enables us to speak fast, and move quickly.

At the onset of sleep, between being awake and asleep, we experience what is known as a Hypnogogic Hallucination We experience hypnogogic hallucinations as a vivid sensory phenomena, such as the sense of falling or a quick jerk (known as a “myoclonic jerk”.

Stage 1 NREM The first stage of the sleep cycle begins with alpha brain waves. Alpha brain waves are slightly larger and slower than beta brain waves, and are associated with relaxed wakefulness. Breathing becomes more regular, heart rate slows, blood pressure decreases. At this this stage, one could be readily awakened. This stage only lasts a few minutes.

Stage 1 NREM (con’t)   This stage is also considered the transitional stage of disengaging from one’s surrounding. Mental imagery is common, but not bizarre like dreams (for example: doing something at work or during the day).

Stage 2 NREM Between stage 1 and 2 NREM, alpha brain waves are replaced by even slower theta brain waves. Stage 2 NREM represents the onset of true sleep. Theta brain waves are brief bursts of brain activity that lasts a second or two (they include sleep spindles and K complexes, which are single but large high-voltage spikes of brain activity that occur periodically).

Stage 2 NREM (cont’d) During this stage, the sleeper is increasingly more relaxed and less responsive to external environment Breathing is rhythmical and dreamer has slight muscle twitches.

Stages 3 and 4 NREM These two stages are often grouped together because they are physiologically very similar. These stages together are known as ‘slow-wave’ sleep because the delta brain waves are of the lowest frequency and represent an increasing proportion of total brain activity. In stage 3, delta brain waves constitute 20%, where sleeper is difficult to arouse In stage 4, 50+%, where sleeper is virtually oblivious to outside world and heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing are at lowest levels.

Stage 3 and 4 NREM (cont’d) Even though sleeper can barely talk, and heart/breathing rate, blood pressure at lowest levels, Sleeper’s muscles can still move, which is why sleep walking can occur during these stages, however Stage 3 & 4 NREM occur principally within the first two 90 minute cycles (see graph of basic sleep cycle in beginning of PowerPoint presentation).

Tip to memorizing the brain waves associated with each stage: Awake: Beta Stage 1 NREM: Alpha Stage 2 NREM: Theta Stage 3 & 4 NREM: Delta Take the first letter of each brain and you have the mnemonic (memory aid): BATD

Now let’s move on to REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep REM is where dreaming occurs. During REM, the brain is more active, generating faster and smaller brain waves.

REM (con’t) REM brain waves resemble those of wakefulness: -breathing, pulse rate fast and irregular; - possible genital arousal (ie. erection or vaginal lubrication); -visual and motor neurons in the sleepers brain fire repeatedly like in wakefulness. For these reasons REM is also known as “active sleep”.

REM (con’t) However, while the brain is extremely active with heightened imagination and rapid eye movement, there is a loss of voluntary muscle movement.

REM (con’t) Even though the brain’s motor cortex remains active, or overexcited, neurons in the brain stem and spinal cord are unable to transmit messages to the rest of the body, which prevent us from acting out our dreams (for better or for worse, our muscles are to the point of paralysis).

REM (con’t) For this reason, REM sleep is often considered “paradoxical sleep” because in some ways it’s the deepest sleep and in some ways the lightest.

As night progresses, REM increases in length of time as NREM decreases. For example, the first REM lasts 5-15 minutes, with each REM stage becoming progressively longer throughout the night. At the end of the night, REM lasts up to 30 minutes. We dream 4 to 5 times a night during and shift positions before and after each REM. Often people cohabitating in same bed have sleeping patterns synchronized so that shifting positions occurs around same time.

Here is a summary chart of the Basic Sleep Cycle

Now Let’s Explore Different Perspectives Dreams

The first perspective is Psychoanalytical

Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud is the founder of Psychoanalysis and wrote the first book on dreams in the western world entitled “The Interpretation of Dreams” at the turn of the 19th c. Freud believed that “Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.”

As a result, There are two levels to dreams: One level is called the manifest content, the dream images themselves; The second level is the latent content, or disguised psychological meaning of the dream, which contains the repressed material (such as unacceptable desires and urges, often sexual and aggressive in nature).

For example: There is a fire fighter on the second floor of the fire house. The bell goes off, and he slides down the pole. According to Freud, the manifest content is the dream images themselves (ie. fire fighter, fire house, and pole). The latent content might be repressed homosexual feelings indicative of sliding down a pole, which might serve as a phallic symbol.

Next we’ll discuss the Jungian Perspective Carl Jung, as we learned about earlier in the semester, introduced the concept of the “collective unconscious”. As a result, he views dreams as highly symbolic. For this reason, we are able to dream about things that we have never experienced, because we are all connected through our collective unconscious and through our dreams access this well of ancestral knowledge and experience.

Let’s move on to the Gestalt Perspective on dreams The Gestalt perspective deals with wholeness and that each aspect of the dream represents some aspect within the dreamer. For example, taking the previous example of the fire fighter, in that dream, from a Gestalt perspective, the fire fighter, the bell, the two stories of the fire house, the pole, the urgency for which the fire fighter went down the pole, all reflect some aspect within dreamer.

Now we’ll discuss the Activation-Synthesis Model Brain regions that respond to information from the environment during the wakeful state, now respond to internally generated signals and synthesizes them into a story or dream.

Now let’s talk about why we dream Why do you think we dream?

Some Reasons Include: solve problems/resolve conflict express emotions and thoughts, often which we have not expressed yet provide insight into waking life give us new ideas Break through personal issues replay past scenarios replays of daily activities (known as “day residue”)

Reasons (con’t) rehearsal of future activities past, present, future events intertwined to provide little meaning or much clarity learning and consolidating new memories (esp. procedural memories—how we perform a new skill) facilitate memory storage may accelerate development of the brain in infants (babies dream in utero)

There is also a biological function: If a person does not “dream enough”, perhaps because of waking up in the middle of a dream or not getting a full night’s rest, the person may experience REM rebound. REM rebound is when a person has REM deprivation and gets additional sleep, there will be a “catching up” of dreaming. REM sleep increases as much as 50%, which indicates the brain needs to dream for healthy functioning.

NREM Rebound Likewise, if a person doesn’t get enough sleep and there is a deprivation of NREM, then the person will experience NREM rebound.

How can we consciously remember our dreams?

Through a process called “Dream Incubation” Dream incubation is where we set out our intention to remember our dreams (for example, if you are wanting guidance with something going on in your life or want to better understand yourself). The process of dream incubation includes telling yourself aloud or in your head something like “I will remember my dream, I will remember my dream” to let the dream world know that you will honor what it presents to you. Additionally, you can either put a pad of paper and pen or tape recorder by your bed to record the dream upon waking (either in the middle right after a dream or in the morning). It might also help to give your dream a title, and as you carry out your day, you might see things in your waking life that trigger material from your dream.

Fun Facts If woken up during stage 2, research shows people remember about 60% of dream. If woken up during the REM stage, people remember 80% (even the 37% of people that claim they rarely or never dream). People on average spend 600 hours each year dreaming. And, over a typical lifetime, spend 100,000+ hours dreaming. Some people report their dream world feels more real than their waking life!!

For this week: After reading the PP presentation, please read “The Basic Dream Work Tool Kit” which gives guidelines to dream work. Then read the dream posted in the Discussion and respond to it like “If this were my dream”. (Read further guidelines under the Discussion). Lastly, take the quiz on the basic-sleep cycle and dreams (study guide provided on home page).