REM rebound

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REM rebound is the lengthening and increasing frequency and depth of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep which occurs after periods of sleep deprivation. When people have been prevented from experiencing REM, they take less time than usual to attain the REM state.[1] When people are unable to obtain an adequate amount of REM sleep, the pressure to obtain REM sleep builds up. When the subject is able to sleep, they will spend a higher percentage of the night in REM sleep. [2]

The fact that REM rebound exists shows that sleep and achievement of specific sleep stages are needed by the brain. In some marine animals, such as dolphins and fur seals, when one brain hemisphere is deprived of REM sleep, only the deprived hemisphere will go into REM rebound. The other hemisphere will be unaffected. [2]

REM rebound is common to those who take certain sleeping aids and it is also often seen in the first few nights after patients with sleep apnea are placed on CPAP. Alcohol can also have an impact on REM sleep; it suppresses it during the first half of the night, leading to a rebound four to five hours after sleep onset.[3] Although alcohol can decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, it will cause a disruption in the sleep cycles. REM sleep is decreased during the first half of the sleep period and cause increased stage 1 sleep in the second half of the sleep period. [4]

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  1. ^ Myers, David (2004). Psychology (7th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. p. 276. ISBN 0-7167-8595-1. Retrieved 2010-01-09. 
  2. ^ a b Carlson, Neil R. (2013). Physiology of behavior (11th ed. ed.). Boston: Pearson. ISBN 9780205239399. 
  3. ^ Timothy Roehrs, Ph.D., and Thomas Roth, Ph.D. (Feb 25, 2011). "Sleep, Sleepiness, and Alcohol Use". National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 3 Nov 2011. 
  4. ^ "Does Drinking Alcohol Affect Sleep?". Alcohol & Drug Counseling, Assessment, & Prevention Services, WSU. Washington State University. Retrieved 7 May 2014. 

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