Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a sleep disorder (more specifically a parasomnia) in which people act out their dreams. It involves abnormal behavior during the sleep phase with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The major feature of RBD is loss of muscle atonia (i.e., the loss of paralysis) during otherwise intact REM sleep (during which paralysis is not only normal but necessary). REM sleep is the stage of sleep in which most vivid dreaming occurs. The loss of motor inhibition leads to a wide spectrum of behavioral release during sleep. This
Rapid eye movement sleep their muscles are suppressed). This is different from conventional sleepwalking, which takes place during slow-wave sleep, not REM. Narcolepsy by contrast seems to involve excessive and unwanted REM atonia—i.e., cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness while awake, hypnagogic hallucinations before entering slow-wave sleep, or sleep paralysis while waking. Other psychiatric disorders including depression have been linked to disproportionate REM sleep. Patients with suspected sleep disorders are typically evaluated by polysomnogram. Lesions of the pons to prevent atonia have induced functional “REM behavior disorder” in animals. Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) has since its discovery been closely associated with dreaming. Waking up