Psychology › Section D · States of consciousness › Topic D.3
Stages of sleep
Sleep is not one state but a repeating cycle: a descent through three progressively deeper non-REM stages, N1 to N3, then REM - where the brain looks almost awake, most muscles go slack, and vivid dreams run. The cycle repeats four to six times a night.
In this topic
- Two phases, one EEG
- N1: the doorway
- N2: settled sleep
- N3: slow-wave sleep
- REM: paradoxical sleep
- The night's architecture
- Dreams: Freud to activation-synthesis
- Worked example: reading a hypnogram
- Worked example: which stage is which?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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