What is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep?
Rapid eye movement sleep, also known as REM sleep is the last stage of the sleep cycle. It is probably the most talked about sleep stage because of its association with dreaming. Below are some of the characteristics of the REM sleep stage: • Irregular, shallow and more rapid breathing • Heart rate increases • Intense brain activity • Paralysis of large voluntary muscles of the body • Rapid movement of the eyes while closed • Intense dreams • Legs, face and finger twitching REM sleep is also called paradoxical sleep due to the fact that the muscles are paralyzed but the brain wave activity is high. A typical sleeper will cycle through the five stages of sleep several times in one night. The REM stage increases in duration with each cycle. For example, during the first sleep cycle, rapid eye movement sleep may only last about 10 minutes, but in the last cycle it could last as long as an hour and a half. As for dreams, they can occur at any point in the sleep cycle, but the vivid and mem
