As the body moves between REM sleep and slow-wave sleep cycles, the hippocampus and neocortex interact to facilitate memory formation.
Study reports warm-blooded animals with higher body temperatures have lower amounts of REM sleep, while those with lower body temperatures have more REM sleep. Researchers say REM sleep acts like a "thermostatically controlled brain heater."
Eye movements that occur during REM sleep aren't random. They appear to coordinate what's happening during dreaming. The findings shed new light on what happens when we dream, and how our imagination works.
The activity of MCH neurons in the lateral hypothalamus during sleep recapitulates REM sleep effects on reducing drug-seeking behaviors.
Study sheds light on how the brain processes emotions during dream sleep by consolidating positive emotions while dampening the consolidation of negative emotions. The findings could pave the way for new treatments for PTSD and other disorders associated with negative emotional processing.
Dreams that appear to be simultaneously realistic and bizarre help our brains learn and extract generic concepts from previous experiences, a new study reports.
People who suffer from REM behavioral disorder, a sleep disorder linked to an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, exhibit limited movement of their trunk during dream re-enactment.
Students who consistently sleep the optimal eight hours per night perform better on tests and report higher personal satisfaction than their peers who have more disrupted sleep patterns.
REM sleep significantly increases the flow of red blood cells through the brain's capillaries.
Infants produce sleep spindles every 10 second, whether in REM or non-REM sleep. Sleep spindles and twitching are synchronized, allowing for twitch reactions to occur during non-REM sleep in infants.
Changes in sleep patterns in older men have been linked to an increased risk of cognitive decline, researchers report.
Study reveals the immune system constantly communicates with the brain during the early developmental phase of Parkinson's disease. Changes in the immune system influence the condition of neurons.
