Sleep

[GreyWanderer]

I heard sleep has 90 minute cycles, and your sleep should ideally last a whole number of 90 minutes. Is this correct?

 

[hgc]

I've heard something like that. Like it takes a good long buildup until REM sets in.

 

[hgc]

Here's a little explaination

During sleep, we move through the various stages in a general pattern. We have sleep cycles that include at least one NREM stage and one REM stage and last from 90 to 110 minutes. During a night's sleep, the typical young adult experiences four to six sleep cycles, which change in composition as the night progresses. In the first third of the night, delta sleep stages are longer, and REM stages are shorter. In the last third of the night, delta sleep usually disappears from the NREM portion of the cycle, and REM sleep stages last longer.

...

 

[garys_2k]

So I wonder if there's a "right" time to wake up, where we would feel most refreshed and awake. Sometimes I sleep late and feel worse than I do if I get up earlier, but other times I wake up later feeling better than usual. I'd assumed it had something to do with sleep cycles, but perhaps an alarm clock could be smart enough to know when the best time to wake us up should be.

 

[bjornart]

So I wonder if there's a "right" time to wake up, where we would feel most refreshed and awake. Sometimes I sleep late and feel worse than I do if I get up earlier, but other times I wake up later feeling better than usual. I'd assumed it had something to do with sleep cycles, but perhaps an alarm clock could be smart enough to know when the best time to wake us up should be.

I've been wishing for one of those. I'd want to set a 'latest time to wake me up', and it should monitor my sleep pattern and wake me up as close as possible to that time while ensuring I felt great when I woke up. Then again, when I do wake up and feel great I always go back to sleep if the alarm hasn't gone off yet.

 

[GreyWanderer]

During sleep, we move through the various stages in a general pattern. We have sleep cycles that include at least one NREM stage and one REM stage and last from 90 to 110 minutes. During a night's sleep, the typical young adult experiences four to six sleep cycles, which change in composition as the night progresses. In the first third of the night, delta sleep stages are longer, and REM stages are shorter. In the last third of the night, delta sleep usually disappears from the NREM portion of the cycle, and REM sleep stages last longer.

Strange... the book "Passer, M. & Smith, R.(2001): Psychology. Berkshire: McGraw Hill Higher Education" says 60-90 minute cycles.

 

[Captain_Snort]

Apparantly these cycles happen in threes, so ideally you should have 3 hours, 6 hours or 9 hours sleep to wake up refreshed. Amazing what you learn listening to BBC Radio 4

 

[Agammamon]

I do know from hard experience that I feel better from waking up after 3ish hours of sleep than from 2 or 4 hours.