Neurobiology of REM sleep

Pierre-Hervé Luppi (1, 2) , Olivier Clément (1, 2) , Christelle Peyron (1, 2) , Patrice Fort (1, 2)

1 CRNL - Centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon - Lyon Neuroscience Research Center
2 SLEEP - Pathophysiology of the Vigilance States

REM (paradoxical) sleep is a state characterized by rapid eye movements, EEG activation, and muscle atonia. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by loss of muscle atonia during REM sleep. Cataplexy, a key symptom of narcolepsy, is a striking sudden episode of muscle weakness comparable to REM sleep atonia triggered by emotions during wakefulness. This chapter presents recent results on the neuronal network responsible for REM sleep and explores hypotheses explaining RBD and cataplexy. RBD could be due to a specific degeneration of glutamatergic neurons responsible for muscle atonia, localized in the pontine sublaterodorsal tegmental nucleus (SLD) or the glycinergic/GABAergic premotoneurons localized in the ventral medullary reticular nuclei. Cataplexy in narcoleptics could be due to activation during waking of SLD neurons. In normal conditions, activation of SLD neurons would be blocked by simultaneous excitation by hypocretins of REM sleep-off GABAergic neurons localized in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray.

Keywords: REM and non-REM sleep; rhythms of the sleeping brain; sleep-related seizure and abnormal movements; neurodegenerative disease; sleep in space and at high altitude

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]

Pierre-Hervé Luppi, Olivier Clément, Christelle Peyron, Patrice Fort. Neurobiology of REM sleep. Chokroverty and Ferini-Strambi. Oxford Textbook of Sleep Disorders, Oxford University Press, pp.15-22, 2017, 9780199682003. ⟨10.1093/med/9780199682003.003.0003⟩. ⟨hal-02339681⟩