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REM Sleep

            The Neural Control of Slow-Wave and REM Sleep.
             Although sleep involves most of the brain, the basal forebrain region is particularly important to slow-wave and REM sleep. Sterman and Clemente found that electrical stimulation of this area produced drowsiness and the subjects of the study readily fell asleep. Evidence also suggests that the mechanisms involved in an animal's ability to regulate its own body temperature (thermoregulation) are closely related to those involved in sleep. There are certain neurons that are extremely sensitive to changes in brain temperature. Warming of the preoptic area and the anterior hypothalamus (POAH) induces slow-wave sleep, similar to the effects of electrical stimulation shown by Strerman and Clemente. This could explain why people experience excessive sleepiness when they haver a high fever, or why people generally feel sleepy on hot summer days. It follows then, that sleep reduces brain temperature.
             REM sleep consists of desynchronized EEG activity, muscular paralysis, rapid eye movements, and increased genital activity. REM sleep is controlled from within the pons. The executive mechanism activates the different components of REM sleep and consists of neurons that secrete acetylcholine. It has been discovered that people who are exposed to organophosphate insecticides (acting as acetylcholine agonists) spend higher amounts of time in REM sleep. .
             The brain contains several groups of acetylcholinergic neurons (which control the onset of REM sleep), the most important of these are found in the dorsalateral pons, in the PDT (pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus) and the LTD (laterodorsal tegmental nucleus). This region is commonly refered to as the peribrachial area. Certain neurons in the peribrachial area fire extremely fast during REM sleep; it is the high activity in the acetylcholinergic cells that is thought to kickstart a bout of REM sleep.


Essays Related to REM Sleep

1. REM Sleep And Its Effects On The Mind And Body

... of graph paper by the electroencephalograph's mechanical pens, researchers determined that brain waves fall into several general groups. They also noticed that the brain descends through four stages of non-REM sleep, each characterized by a different wave or combination of waves. When a person falls asleep for the first time at night, his or her eyes remain fairly relaxed for about 45 minutes ... , though their eyes were tightly closed, lifted their heads as if to look around them. Others stood up and attacked invisible enemies or chased unseen prey. Many ideas of why REM sleep exists ha...

  • Word Count: 2618
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Periods and Functions of Sleep

... which have been expended by ones' daily activities. Further support for this claim comes from a study by Van Cauter (2005), in which findings demonstrated how, prior to the onset of REM sleep, a number of events occur within the body which seem to be linked to an increase in the availability of glucose which is the key component of ATP generation. Findings from ... subjected to vast amounts of incoming information which we cannot fully process there and then. Instead, we are given the opportunity to process this information as we sleep. The memory consolidation theory assumes that REM s...

  • Word Count: 3321
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Graduate

3. The Process and Study of Sleep

... is no danger. To grazing animals with many predators who only sleep 4 hours This theory doesn't explain why sleep involves a loss of awareness as this places the organism at a greater risk Characteristics Sleep There are two types of sleep: Non-rapid-eye movements sleep (NREM sleep) Rapid-eye movement sleep (REM sleep) NREM One cycle of NREM sleep last for around 70-90 mins and it consists of 4 distinct ... stages. After each NREM cycle there is a period of REM sleep. A complete cycle of sleep is defined as a period of NREM sleep and a period of REM sleep. Generally, a complete sleep cyc...

  • Word Count: 2627
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Sleep science

... an important role in memory consolidation - at least for procedural/skill memory it also seems most likely that it is the deep, slow-wave (non-REM) sleep that is important for this process new sleep studies support a view of a "memory life-cycle", which involves three stages - stabilization, consolidation, and re-consolidation initial stabilization of memories may take as much as six hours Why ... occurs in the first half of the night, and "REM" (rapid eye movement) sleep (that occurs while you are dreaming). Experiments that have found sleep necessary for consolidation tend to support ...

  • Word Count: 2912
  • Approx Pages: 12
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Stages of Sleep

... is often disputed by the fact that our bodies can be rested by just laying down and further more, our brains become very active during sleep. The second theory is known as the evolutionary theory in which the belief is that humans have always slept and our bodies are programmed ... , and brain activity become slower. Next, in stage 3, our breathing, pulse, and brain activity is slower yet, and brain activity is synchronized. During stage 4 of sleep, our breathing, pulse, and brain activity is the slowest, and brain activity is highly synchronized. Stage 3 and 4 are predominant the first ...

  • Word Count: 458
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Sleep Apnea

... , the stage that allows the mind and body to fall into a deep and restorative sleep, otherwise known as REM sleep. At the core of this difficulty is a condition known as obstructive sleep apnea, a "serious, potentially life-threatening condition that is far more common than generally understood" (Sleep Apnea). Indeed, obstructive sleep apnea can be very dangerous if it is not properly detected and treated. What is ... of Stage IV. Indications of this are that the EEG reading is maladjusted and the eyes flit from one side to the other in a rapid fashion, which is indicative of REM sleep. ...

  • Word Count: 1429
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Sleep Apnea

... , the stage that allows the mind and body to fall into a deep and restorative sleep, otherwise known as REM sleep. At the core of this difficulty is a condition known as obstructive sleep apnea, a "serious, potentially life-threatening condition that is far more common than generally understood" (Sleep Apnea). Indeed, obstructive sleep apnea can be very dangerous if it is not properly detected and treated. What is ... of Stage IV. Indications of this are that the EEG reading is maladjusted and the eyes flit from one side to the other in a rapid fashion, which is indicative of REM sleep. ...

  • Word Count: 1429
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Sleep Apnea

... a process that takes time to complete. It begins with stage one and goes to a deep sleep known as stage four. These stages are all during the time known as Non-REM sleep, or Non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep. The first stage is a very light sleep with relaxed muscles. The second is characterized by brain waves getting larger. The third and fourth stages are where the ... sleeper is in a deep sleep in which their brain waves are huge and slow which makes this stage ... the hardest to wake from. After an hour or so, you shift into a highly active stage characterized by rapid eye movements, he...

  • Word Count: 1829
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Sleep Disorders and Narcolepsy

... Three insightful articles will offer interesting facts and studies on narcolepsy. Eighteen percent of narcolepsy is associated with REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) which is clinically characterized by interrupted loss of normal skeletal muscle during REM sleep with the appearance of complicated motor activity associated with dreaming. Dramatic, usually violent behaviors such as punching ... The study performed olfactory testing on 20 patients with narcolepsy associated with RBD and in 20 narcolepsy patients who had no history of RBD. Patients were designated to th...

  • Word Count: 681
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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