

But generally, people need between 2 to 3 hours," she said. The more sleep-deprived, the more SWS they will need. "This varies by how sleep-deprived people are. Mednick also said the amount of SWS required depends on the individual. For nine hours, it's between 70 and 124 minutes. For an adult getting seven hours, this is between 55 and 97 minutes. As a person continues to sleep, it said, this and other NREM stages get shorter, with more time spent in REM sleep instead.Ī study published in 2006 indicates that people should spend between 13 and 23 percent of their sleep in deep sleep. The Sleep Foundation explained that we spend the most time in deep sleep during the first half of the night, adding that during early sleep cycles, SWS commonly last for 20-40 minutes. Babies need as much as 16 to 18 hours each day, something that may boost growth and development, especially of the brain.īy adulthood, most people need between 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, but only a small amount of this time is spent in deep sleep.

The amount of sleep that a person needs varies significantly with age.

None of these functions happen during any other stage of sleep." How Much Deep Sleep Do You Need? Mednick, author of the new book The P ower of the Downstate, added: "During SWS, our bodies repair and build muscle tissue, clear out toxins from the brain and strengthen long-term memories, among other functions. Nature describes SWS as phase 3 of NREM sleep-the deepest phase, characterized by delta waves in the brain. Sara Mednick, a professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine, told Newsweek: "The truth is that there is no scientific definition for deep sleep, but people use it to refer to slow-wave sleep, which is the stage of sleep that is considered the most restorative." A lack of deep sleep can lead to health problems including migraines and high blood pressure. Stock image of a woman struggling to sleep.
