Physiology
Slow-wave sleep (SWS), also known as Stage 3, is characterized by lack of movement and difficulty of arousal. Slow-wave sleep occurring in both hemispheres is referred to as bihemisphereic slow-wave sleep (BSWS) and is common among most animals. Slow-wave sleep contrasts rapid eye movement sleep (REM), which can only occur simultaneously in both hemispheres. In most animals, slow-wave sleep is characterized by high amplitude, low frequency EEG readings. This is also known as desynchronized state of the brain, or deep sleep.
In USWS, only one hemisphere exhibits the deep sleep EEG while the other hemisphere exhibits an EEG typical of wakefulness with a low amplitude and high frequency. There also exist instances in which hemispheres are in transitional stages of sleep, but they have not been the subject of study due to their ambiguous nature. USWS represents the first known behavior in which one part of the brain controls sleep while another part controls wakefulness.
Read more about this topic: Unihemispheric Slow-wave Sleep
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