Psychiatria pre prax 4/2003

Behavioral disturbances during REM sleep

Vigilance is usually associated with consciousness and muscle tone, on the contrary vivid dreams and muscle atonia are typical for REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Between these two states there are a few combinations, manifestations of which depend on initial circumstances, whether it is REM sleep or vigilant state. Vigilant automatic behavior as a part of REM represents behavioral disturbance during REM sleep (REM sleep behavior disorders – RBD), which is the best studied parasomnia and is the topic discussed in this review.

Keywords: behavioral disturbances during REM, sleep, polysomnography.