non-REM sleep

Also found in: Medical, Wikipedia.

non-REM sleep

 (nŏn′rĕm′)
n.
A period of sleep characterized by decreased metabolic activity, slowed breathing and heart rate, and the absence of dreaming. Non-REM sleep occurs in the first four of the five stages of the sleep cycle, followed by REM sleep, during which dreaming occurs. Also called NREM sleep, orthodox sleep.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Mentioned in
References in periodicals archive
"These two stages are key components of a newborn's sleep-wake cycle, and gradually transform with age into cycles of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep states such as deep sleep," said Dr James Roberts, a co-author of the study and head of QIMR Berghofer's Brain Modelling Group.
Changes include earlier to sleep and earlier waking, shorter sleep duration, increased sleep fragmentation, and altered rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep. On EEG, older persons exhibit changes in slow wave during deep sleep, changes in spindle amplitude, density and duration, and changes in the coupling of spindles and slow oscillations.
However, analysis of the other arm, in which subjects received placebo followed by NYX-2925, showed that NYX-2925 significantly enhanced various measures, including overall sleep duration and non-REM sleep duration.
In the hours before and around midnight, however, you spend more time in deeper, non-REM sleep. Your brain and overall health benefits from plenty of non-REM sleep.
Another study found that ataxic breathing was more frequent in non-REM sleep in chronic opioid users (odds ratio, 15.4; P = .017; J Clin Sleep Med.
Non-REM sleep dominates the early part of the sleep.
When a baby starts to sleep, the baby enters different stages of REM (Rapid-Eye Movement) sleep alternating with Non-REM sleep. It is during the Non-REM sleep where you have that initial stage of drowsiness which progress to light sleep then deep sleep.
Normal, beneficial sleep has two key phases: lighter REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and deeper, non-REM sleep during which our brain produces waves or "spindles" that aid the memory.
It has also been shown that sleep spindles, or sudden spikes in oscillatory brain activity that can be seen on an electroencephalogram (EEG) during the second stage of non-REM sleep, are key for this memory consolidation.
Two different states with different biochemical, neuronal, and metabolic properties are involved in sleep: non-REM sleep and REM sleep.
Neuroimaging studies on fibromyalgia patients have revealed functional sleep disturbances including reduced short-wave sleep and the presence of abnormal [alpha]-rhythms or waves (usually present when we are awake, but relaxed), during delta wave deep sleep, which suggest frequent awakenings during non-REM sleep (stages 1-4).
The human sleep cycle consists of the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which restores one's emotional and psychological state, and the Non-REM sleep (NREM), which provides homeostatic processes including physical and immune system restoration (Harris, 2014).
Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.