Under the REM phases, medicine understands sleep phases, in which an increased eye movement, an increase of the pulse rate and the beta as well as dream activity takes place, whereby the muscle tone strongly decreases during this altogether three-hour sleep phase. Meanwhile, medical science assumes that REM sleep is particularly related to learning activities, with clinical studies additionally suggesting a hitherto rather vague connection with information processing, impulse control and stress management. While many other creatures die after prolonged REM phase deprivation, humans generally survive such deprivation, but as a result usually struggle with concentration difficulties, increased drive activity, and reduced learning ability.
What are REM phases?
REM phases are what medicine refers to as sleep phases in which there is increased eye movement, an increase in pulse rate, and beta as well as dream activity. REM phases are sleep stages that account for about 25 percent of all human sleep. While infants spend up to nine hours in REM sleep, the phase accounts for a total of about three hours in adult sleep. The remaining part of sleep is also titled “non-REM” to distinguish it from this phase. REM stands for “rapid eye movement” in connection with the sleep phases, because such “rapid eye movements” can be observed more frequently in the REM phase. REM sleep is also referred to as paradoxical or desynchronized sleep and occurs more frequently, especially towards the end of the night’s sleep. A large proportion of all dreams are concentrated in this sleep phase. In the 20th century, it was possible to document a connection between eye movements and the dream events of the REM phase with regard to this. In addition to eye movement, REM sleep is also characterized by an increase in blood pressure and an increased pulse rate. Muscle tone decreases sharply during this sleep phase. At the same time, beta activity in the brain increases, approximating beta wave generation during wakefulness. In 1953, Eugene Aserinsky and Professor Nathaniel Kleitman of the University of Chicago were the first to document the REM phase. Humans are far from the only creatures that experience REM sleep phases. It is now believed that all mammals go through these sleep phases and require them for regeneration. Various studies to date have documented REM sleep in dolphins, rodents and even echidnas, for example.
Function and task
Today, medical science assumes that learning activities in particular are coupled to the REM sleep phases. This hypothesis is related to the increased beta activity that constitutes the REM phases. Specifically, during periods of arousal and mental activity, the brain generates beta waves. This can be measured on a person in active conversation, for example. This beta activity thus corresponds to the sequence of beta waves that corresponds to the rhythm in which the human brain analytically solves problems or makes decisions. High beta activity is therefore evidence of alertness, but also of arousal, and is particularly present during computation and planning. Because beta activity during REM phases approximates that during wakefulness, REM sleep probably occupies a crucial position in learning contexts. Furthermore, although it has not been adequately studied, a link between REM phases and stress management and drive regulation can be suspected. Furthermore, since REM sleep is where the majority of all dreaming occurs, it is likely to be related to the mental processing of information and experience. When REM sleep is deprived, a rebound phenomenon occurs in the following nights, i.e. the REM phases of the following nights accumulate or expand. This observation testifies to the essential importance of sleep phases for humans. In connection with clinical studies, subjects with REM sleep deprivation have often shown libidinal behaviors, such as increased hunger, stronger and more aggressive sexual impulses, as well as concentration problems and difficulties with memory. On the other hand, some subjects were still able to cope with everyday life after complete and prolonged REM sleep deprivation. This apparently distinguishes the functions and significance of human REM sleep from that in other mammals.In animal experiments, straight rats died after several weeks of complete deprivation of REM sleep, whereas human life does not appear to be threatened by deprivation.
Illnesses and diseases
In the context of REM, premature REM sleep may refer to a sleep disorder in some circumstances. Sleep physicians define REM latency as the period of time after which a sleeper first enters a REM phase. As a rule, this period is around 90 minutes for healthy and well-rested people. Patients with sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, on the other hand, enter the first REM phase after a significantly shorter period of time. This is called premature REM sleep, but it does not necessarily have to be a disease. Those who suffer from sleep deprivation, for example, will also reach the first REM phase prematurely after falling asleep, without this inevitably being associated with a disease. REM sleep deprivation can have serious consequences for everyday life. For example, studies have shown that patients with absent or shortened REM phases cannot easily cope with more complex tasks and new challenges. Sleeping pills may cause absent or shortened REM sleep because they block the beta brainwave activity that is crucial for REM sleep. For this reason, sleeping pills have come under increased criticism following the most recent findings on REM phases. Those who wish to have the quality and latency of their REM phases tested should contact a sleep laboratory, where sleep activities are observed under brain wave measurement.
