Scientists have discovered the neural headquarters for REM sleep – that dreamy brain state where the eyes are the only part of the body actively moving.
When this circuit at the top of the brainstem is triggered in mice, researchers can make animals slip into REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, even if they are wide awake to start with.
If the findings extend to humans, we will be one big step closer to understanding the biology of sleep and why it can go awry.
The knowledge could even help us manipulate REM sleep for the better in humans with sleep apnea, narcolepsy, frequent distressing nightmares, or REM disorders, which cause people to act out their dreams with movement or vocalizations – such as talking in their sleep.
This seems to be big for the field. Published in Cell which is a very high impact journal.
The science of sleep is such a fascinating field. With lots of garbage science out there (see #507184) it's good to remain critical but also excited about new developments.
Man, as someone with more than a few sleep issues, this is something I'm definitely interested in (and thanks for the link to the previous post about Walker's book, which I appear to have missed).
reply
I would not completely disregard Walker's message on the importance of sleep, but one should definitely be aware that from a scientific point of view, he builds his case on very shaky grounds.
Yeah, I know a few people who have a lot of sleep issues, it can be really handicapping to one's life. Hope you'll find solutions to your issues.
reply
reply
That's a nice little break there with a Dr House clip~~
reply
On September 24, while participants were sleeping at home, a special device tracked their brain waves remotely.
When the first person entered a lucid dream, the server sent a random "Remmyo" word through earbuds. The participant repeated this word in the dream, and it was saved on the server.
Eight minutes later, another person entered a lucid dream, received the stored message, and confirmed it upon waking—making it the first "chat" exchanged in dreams.
Additionally, two others managed to connect with the server through their dreams.
reply
Reminds me of the anime "Paprika", where two people can share a dream.
reply
Where is this information from? Is it in the original article? Or is it another study? What about the video?