Neuroscience
You go to sleep. Your brain changes shifts.
Sleep cycles through REM and three non-REM stages. Their proportions change through the night.
The idea
Calling sleep “off” hides the fact that it has different states.
An example
Think of a diagram that changes labels across the night rather than showing one uninterrupted block labeled “off.” The purpose is to represent variation, not to infer anyone’s exact sleep stages from how they feel.
Try it
Explain to a friend why sleep is a process with phases rather than a single uniform condition.
More context
Sleep cycles through REM and non-REM phases; non-REM includes three stages. Their proportions change across the night. Sleep is not a single uniform “off” state. Sleep science · general education
Sources & further reading
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