Non-rapid eye movement sleep activation occurs during NREM that is comparable to the type that occurs during REM. It is this sub-cortical activation that results in dreaming during the NREM stage during the morning hours. During non-REM sleep, the tonic drive to most respiratory muscles of the upper airway is inhibited. This has two consequences: However, because the diaphragm is largely driven by the autonomous system, it is relatively spared of non-REM inhibition. As such, the suction pressures it generates stay the same. This narrows the upper airway during sleep, increasing resistance and making airflow through the upper airway turbulent and noisy. For example,
Rapid eye movement sleep fetuses in spite of lack of vision. Also, binocular REMs are non-conjugated (i.e., the two eyes do not point in the same direction at a time) and so lack a fixation point. In support of this theory, research finds that in goal-oriented dreams, eye gaze is directed towards the dream action, determined from correlations in the eye and body movements of REM sleep behavior disorder patients who enact their dreams. Dr. David M. Maurice (1922-2002), an eye specialist and semi-retired adjunct professor at Columbia University, proposed that REM sleep was associated with oxygen supply to the cornea, and that aqueous