Slow-wave sleep

"Deep sleep" redirects here. For the video game series, see Deep Sleep. For the therapeutic treatment, see Deep sleep therapy. For the underground hotel, see Deep Sleep (hotel).
Ostriches sleeping, with REM and slow-wave sleep phases[1]

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.[2]

Slow-wave sleep usually lasts between 70 and 90 minutes, taking place during the first hours of the night.[3] SWS 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.

Prior to 2007, the term SWS referred to both the third and fourth stages of NREM. However, after both stages were combined into stage three, SWS refers only to the third stage.[4]: 291 

  1. ^ Lesku JA, Meyer LC, Fuller A, Maloney SK, Dell'Omo G, Vyssotski AL, Rattenborg NC (2011). Balaban E (ed.). "Ostriches sleep like platypuses". PLOS ONE. 6 (8): e23203. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...623203L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023203. PMC 3160860. PMID 21887239.
  2. ^ Rechtschaffen A, Kales A (1968). A Manual of Standardized Terminology, Techniques and Scoring System for Sleep Stages of Human Subjects. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare; National Institutes of Health.
  3. ^ Reinoso Suárez, F. (1999). "[The neurobiology of slow-wave sleep]". Anales de la Real Academia Nacional de Medicina. 116 (1): 209–224, discussion 224–226. ISSN 0034-0634. PMID 10554397.
  4. ^ Carlson NR (2013). Physiology of behavior (Eleventh ed.). Boston. ISBN 978-0-205-23939-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)