REM Sleep essays

REM Sleep essays REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep is a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as the paradoxical stage of sleep, the muscles are relaxed, except for minor twitches, during this phase. Although the muscles of the body are relaxed and considered temporarily paralyzed other systems of the body are very active. As one begins to fall asleep, the body goes through a series of changes. Gradually breathing slows, pulse rates begin to drop, and body temperature begins to decline. Quickly moving through the different stages of sleep, REM is eventually reached. While the back and forth movement of your eyes occurs (hence rapid eye movement), one enters a more active type of sleep. REM sleep is produced by the excretion of the chemical acetylcholine in the pons which is part of the brainstem. Other neurotransmitters (noradrenalin and serotonin) produced by other cells in the pons switch off the REM sleep. This formula is known as the reciprocal interac tion/activation-synthesis model. This model proposed that reciprocally interacting chemicals secreted in an elementary part of the brain that has nothing to do with complex mental functioning were responsible for the creation of dream images. Basically this is saying that the images were simply turned on and off and were not generated by any kind of motivation in the person. In this model, dreaming is simply an epiphenomenon of REM sleep. During the REM sleep, your pulse rate and breathing become irregular and the levels of adrenal and sexual hormones in your blood rise-as if you were in the middle of an intensely emotional or physically demanding activity. Muscles in the face and fingers begin to twitch, and temporary paralysis occurs within the arms and legs. The waves sent to the brain closely resemble those of an awake and active person. The Rapid Eye Movement stage tends to last from 15 to 45 ...