Let's say that you were stranded on a deserted island. What are your immediate concerns? You would think about finding food and fresh water, right? When we think about survival, these are normally the go-to concerns, but did you know that there is a third element that is so critical you can die without it? Yep. It's the sleep episode of Hello from the Van. Now, while dying from a lack of sleep is very rarely an occurrence, it's actually a gateway to other issues. You are more likely to die from the side effects of sleep deprivation than from the actual lack of sleep. According to John Hopkins Medicine, one in 25 adults have fallen asleep at the wheel in the last month. That is millions of adults falling asleep at the wheel. Chronic sleep deprivation can give you a 48% higher chance of heart disease. And did you know that you are three times more likely to get a cold if you're sleep deprived? Sleep is a very critical part of our health and our happiness. It's no laughing matter. With all this talk of sleep and its benefits, what exactly happens when we sleep? Why do we sleep? And what happens when we don't get the required sleep we need to be healthy and happy? Let's start with the basics. What is sleep? Well, it's a bit of a scientific mystery. I know, it's disappointing. We know that sleep is when our brain slows down its regular activities. We all do it. We know what sleep is in theory. The problem is that for scientists, it hasn't been until the last several decades that we've started to understand what's actually physically happening inside our bodies and our brains during sleep. We know that during sleep our brains are problem solving, they're rebuilding physical structure, our bodies are healing, we're storing memories, and our brains are healing. So how does all of this growth and repair happen? For humans, there are actually several different types of sleep. The most important types are REM sleep and non-REM sleep. REM, or REM, stands for rapid eye movement. While REM is named after what is happening with your eyes, it's actually your body that is mostly affected during REM sleep. In fact, your body is in almost near paralysis during REM sleep. It's critical to growth and survival, but more on that later. Now, REM and non-REM sleep are so different that they are actually considered two completely different behavioral states, as different as being asleep and awake. And our body cycles through REM and non-rem or N sleep multiple times through the night. Think of it like a journey for your body and your mind. As your body and your mind go through this nightly sojourn, they then go through four distinct phases. I know it's gonna get a little technical, but hang with me. These four phases, N1, N2, and N3, are all, you guessed it, non-REM sleep or NREM sleep. We call them N1, N2, and N3. The fourth phase is REM sleep or rabbit eye movement sleep. It sounds a little confusing, I know. It's very technical, but hang with me. I promise it'll make sense by the time we're done. Our body goes through these four phases each night. The four phases together, N1, N2, N3, and REM sleep, are called the sleep cycle. And it takes an average of about 90 minutes for your body and your mind to complete the sleep cycle. But we sleep for hours at a time. So your body's going through this cycle over and over and over again. N1, N2, N3, REM. Then it starts over, N1, N2, N3, REM. Then it starts over again and over and over until you wake up. But what is happening in each of these phases? The non-rem sleep phases, N1, N2, and N3, are where we generally process the physical side of sleep. These phases could actually be called drowsy, light sleep, and deep sleep, but scientists and doctors just call them N1, N2, and N3. These are the phases where our brain and our body heal. The first stage of sleep, N1, is very brief. This is when you are drowsy and falling asleep. You close your eyes, your heartbeat starts to slow, your breathing becomes regular, and you stop being aware of what's going on around you. That is N1. You then enter N2. N2 is known as light sleep. And this is where we spend about 45% of our time during sleep, is in light sleep. This is where our muscles relax and our body begins to repair itself. And then we hit N3. This is known as deep sleep. Deep sleep is where your body is doing its work. This is where the physical side of sleep, where the repair and the special cells are sent to your brains and the hormones that help you grow are released. It is done during N3, during deep sleep. It is very hard to wake someone during N3 or deep sleep. But would you be surprised to know that our dreams are not done when we are in N3? Nope. We do not normally dream during N3. Our body is too busy repairing itself. It's taking care of the physical side of sleep and repair and growth. It's not until we hit the fourth and final phase, known as REM sleep, that our body starts to process the emotional part of life. So after the repairing is done, we enter this fourth and final phase: rapid eye movement sleep. This is where we process emotion and memory, and our mind starts to play what-if scenarios, and it all comes out as dreams. During this REM sleep, your eyes and your eyelids start to flutter. Your breathing, rather than being slow and regular, becomes irregular. And your brain paralyzes your muscles so that you don't act out your dreams. Like we mentioned before, during REM sleep, our body is processing emotion. If you've ever asked a parent, why do we dream? The answer is because we need a way for our bodies, the physical part of our brain, to process emotions, memories, and life in general. Have you ever noticed that sometimes you dream about things that could happen to you? That is your body literally processing scenarios, and it's a natural part of human evolution. If you've ever wondered about the function of dreams, such as what is physically happening inside the brain when we dream, well, so are the scientists. There is so much that we don't know about dreams. Ram sleep is considered a mystery for a lot of different reasons. Questions like, why do some people dream every night and others don't? We don't know the answer to that. Why can't I remember all of my dreams? Nope, still don't know the answer to that either. Why do I dream about people I've never met? Yeah, well, we don't know the answer to that either. We have educated guesses, but no definitive answers. Sleep is considered a scientific mystery. That said, here's what we do know. Life is hard. It's especially hard on the human body and the human mind. And in order for us to continue to function, our bodies need time to heal and to grow. And this is done primarily through sleep. We might not know exactly how it's done just yet, but we know that it's critical to our survival. For example, did you know that your immune system is dependent on the quality of your sleep? Yep. According to study after study, sleep deprivation is tied to illness. One of the best ways to maintain a healthy immune system is to get good, consistent sleep. So then the question becomes, how much sleep do I realistically need? Well, here's the crazy part. Most kids are not getting enough sleep. I and several other parents across the world are going, mm-hmm, yeah, heard. Maybe you kids need to hear this too. Newborns up to about three months old need 14 to 17 hours of sleep a day. Kids four months to 12 months old need about 12 to 16 hours. This is including nap time. Young children, one to five years old, they still need 10 to 14 hours of sleep a day. Now, school-aged kids, so those from 6 to 12, need about 9 to 12 hours of sleep each night. During this age category, kids are not normally napping. So those 9 to 12 hours should be done at night. Teenagers, those 13 to 18 years old, need about 8 to 10 hours, and adults need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep a day to function. The younger you are, the more sleep you need. But there are more reasons that you need sleep. It's not just to keep your body growing. During sleep, the brain sorts through and stores information. It takes things from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. It replaces chemicals and it even solves problems while you sleep. Scientifically, if you were given the option to pull an all-nighter and study for a test, or to briefly review the information, then get a good night's sleep, the outcomes in science say the sleep is more important than the all-night study. Can you think of a time when you didn't get enough sleep? That heavy, groggy feeling is awful. And when you feel that way, it's your body telling you to slow down. A lack of sleep is called sleep deprivation, and it causes a lot of issues. I must be clear here. Sleep deprivation is different than insomnia. Insomnia is a medical condition that prevents a person that wants to sleep from physically being able to do so. Sleep deprivation is not a medical condition. It's simply something that happens due to other factors like work, play, schedule, stress. But here's the interesting thing. All living beings need rest. Well, it was debated for a very long time whether or not all animals sleep. All animals do need rest. It used to be said that things like jellyfish and bullfrogs didn't sleep. However, through the last 60 years, we have discovered that they do enter restful states. It's just not the same type of sleep as humans. Even sharks enter a trance-like state to rest. It's effectively a low power mode. While we may have different definitions of sleep, all living beings need rest. And for humans, that means that we are going to spend about one-third of our lives sleeping. So how do we get that sleep that we need? Here's some things that you can do to have what's called good sleep hygiene. Get yourself on a schedule. Try going to bed at the same time every night and try waking up every morning around the same time. This helps your body know when it's time to sleep and when it's time to be awake. Get plenty of exercise every day. Exercise helps you stay on a regular sleep schedule and sleep more soundly. This is a difficult one. Turn off the television and electronics at least one hour before bedtime. Turning these off helps your brain process the evening better. Other things you can do, relax and dim the lights before bed. Your body will know it's almost time for sleep if you turn the lights down. Opening the curtains to bright light in the morning sends signals to your brain that says, hey, wake up! The sun's up, be awake. And finally, make sure your room is quiet and dark if you can, so that noise and light don't wake you up. Keeping your room cool can also help you sleep faster and stay asleep. So, with all of our new knowledge about sleep and dreams and REM and NREM sleep, one thing that has been consistent through all of the ages is that humans have acknowledged and known that sleep is critical to our survival. I leave you with a quote from William Shakespeare We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep. I'm Mimi Fotz, and this has been Hello from the Band.