Non-rapid eye movement sleep in the context of "Sleeping"

Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with the surrounding environment. While sleep differs from wakefulness in terms of the ability to react to stimuli, it still involves active brain patterns, making it more reactive than a coma or disorders of consciousness.

Sleep occurs in repeating periods, during which the body alternates between two distinct modes: rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and non-REM sleep. Although REM stands for "rapid eye movement", this mode of sleep has many other aspects, including virtual paralysis of the body. Dreams are a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

A hypnogram is a form of polysomnography; it is a graph that represents the stages of sleep as a function of time. It was developed as an easy way to present the recordings of the brain wave activity from an electroencephalogram (EEG) during a period of sleep. It allows the different stages of sleep: rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) to be identified during the sleep cycle. NREM sleep can be further classified into NREM stage 1, 2 and 3. The previously considered 4th stage of NREM sleep has been included within stage 3; this stage is also called slow wave sleep (SWS) and is the deepest stage of sleep.

Slow-wave sleep (SWS), often referred to as deep sleep, is the third stage of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM), where electroencephalography activity is characterised by slow delta waves.

Slow-wave sleep usually lasts between 70 and 90 minutes, taking place during the first hours of the night. Slow-wave sleep is characterised by moderate muscle tone, slow or absent eye movement, and lack of genital activity. Slow-wave sleep is considered important for memory consolidation, declarative memory, and the recovery of the brain from daily activities.