There are four stages of NREM sleep.

Healthy sleep will typically progress through the four stages of

NREM sleep prior to the first REM period. From wakefulness, sleep typically progresses quickly
through stages 1 and 2. During stages 3 and 4 NREM , both metabolic activity and brain waves slow.
This slow waves sleep occurs most frequently early in the sleep cycle. After stages 4, the first REM
cycles tend to lengthen in the later stages of the sleep cycle.
REM sleep involves a dramatic physiological change from stage NREM slow wave sleep, to a
state in which the brain becomes electrically and metabolically actived. REM occurs in bursts, and is
accompanied by a 62% to 173% increase in cerebral flow generalized muscle atonia, poikilothermia,
vivid dreaming, and fluctuation in respiratory and cardiac rate.