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Sleep Stages
Remember night terrors happen in stage 4 (highlighted)
| Stage | Bodily Activity | Depth Of Sleep | Thought Process | Miscellaneous |
| 0 Awake |
Slows down, decreased muscle tension | Borderline wakefulness | Relaxation, mind wanders, awareness dulls | Heart rate, pulse, temperature and blood pressure slightly diminished. |
1 |
Eyes roll slowly on falling asleep, eyes quiescent in later stage 1 periods. Body movements slowed. | Light sleep, easily awakened, might deny being asleep if awakened. | Drifting thoughts and floating sensation. | Temperature, heart rate, pulse decline further. Regular breathing. May have hypnogogic hallucinations on falling asleep. |
2 |
Eyes quiet. Few body movements. Snoring is common. | Light to moderate sleep. Relatively easy to awaken. Eyes will not see if open. | Some thought fragments, memory processes diminished, may describe vague dream if awakened |
Decreased heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, temperature and metabolic rate, regular breathing with increased airway resistance. |
3 |
Occasional movement, eyes quiescent. | Deep Sleep, takes louder sounds to be awakened. | Rarely able to remember thoughts. A few vaguely formed dreams. Possible memory consolidation. | Metabolic rate, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure and temperature decrease further. Increased secretion of growth hormones. |
4 |
Occasional movement, eyes quiet. | Deepest sleep, very difficult to awaken. | Virtually oblivious, very poor recall of thoughts if awoken possibly involved in memory consolidation. | Continued decline in heart rate, temperature and metabolic rates. Increased secretion of growth hormone. (possibly to restore bodily tissues) |
REM |
Large muscles paralyzed. Fingers toes and facial muscles twitch. Erections, snoring uncommon. | Variable. If sound is incorporated into dream, then harder to awake. | 80 percent dreaming, good vivid dream recall, especially later in the evening. Possibly involved in unconscious conflict resolution. | Heart rate 5 percent greater than above stages. Pulse, temperature and metabolic rates increase. Irregular breathing one-half extra breath per minute. |
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