While all stages of sleep are essential, the fourth and last stage, known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, is vital to help process your emotions and help your brain process new learnings.
Not all sleep is equal
Your brain repeatedly cycles through two different types of sleep roughly four or five times a night, with each sleep cycle lasting for 80 to 100 minutes 1.
The first part of the cycle, known as non-REM sleep, is when your body begins to fall asleep and goes into a deep sleep.
During the second part of the cycle, known as REM sleep, your eyes move rapidly behind your closed eyelids, and your body becomes temporarily paralysed as you begin to dream.
Why is REM sleep important?
REM sleep is so crucial that if you don’t get enough of it in one night, your body will naturally increase it the next time you fall asleep. You’ll enter the REM sleep stage earlier and stay in it longer.
Some benefits of REM sleep include 1:
- Regulating your mood, as it helps your brain process emotional memories
- Protection against dementia, as a study in the journal Neurology showed that every 1% reduction in REM sleep increased the risk of dementia by 9%.
How much REM sleep do you need?
You need the most REM sleep when you’re an infant or a child, as your brain is still developing. Newborn babies spend eight hours in the REM sleep stage every night 1!
However, as you age, your REM sleep needs tend to reduce to an average of two hours a night.
Ideally, REM sleep should account for 20% to 25% of a person’s total sleep time.
How can I get more REM sleep?
As REM sleep occurs during the second half of your sleep period, most recommendations for getting more REM sleep centre around getting enough overall sleep and ensuring quality sleep. You can try and get more REM sleep by 2:
- Sleeping long enough to reach the second half of the sleep period
- Developing and maintaining a sleep schedule where you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
- Maintaining a calm, dark and quiet bedroom environment so you can sleep deeply
- Avoiding tobacco, alcohol and caffeine entirely in the late afternoon and evening so you can sleep deeply
If you’re still having trouble getting the quality sleep you need and are experiencing sleep problems such as excessive daytime sleepiness, speak to your local healthcare professional.
References
1Harvard Health Publishing, REM sleep: What is it, why is it important, and how can you get more of it? Accessed 24 October 2024
2Sleep Foundation, 5 ways to get more REM sleep, accessed 24 October 2024