REM sleep
noun
: a state of sleep that recurs cyclically with non-REM sleep several times during a normal period of sleep, is characterized especially by greatly depressed muscle tone, dreaming with vivid imagery, rapid eye movements, and increased neuronal activity in certain brain regions (such as the pons), and typically comprises up to 25% of time spent in sleep
REM sleep, it soon became apparent, occurs in intervals throughout the night, usually four to six times, each lasting from ten minutes to an hour.
Martin Gardner
Martin GardnerPeople awakened during REM sleep usually report dreams with visual images and storylike narratives. Lis Harris
Lis Harriscalled also paradoxical sleep, rapid eye movement sleep
compare slow-wave sleep, non-REM sleep
Word History
First Known Use
1963, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
REM sleep
noun
: a state of sleep that recurs cyclically with non-REM sleep several times during a normal period of sleep, is characterized especially by greatly depressed muscle tone, dreaming with vivid imagery, rapid eye movements, and increased neuronal activity in certain brain regions (as the pons), and typically comprises up to 25% of time spent in sleep
REM sleep, it soon became apparent, occurs in intervals throughout the night, usually four to six times, each lasting from ten minutes to an hour. Martin Gardner
Martin GardnerPeople awakened during REM sleep usually report dreams with visual images and storylike narratives. Lis Harris
Lis Harriscalled also desynchronized sleep, paradoxical sleep, rapid eye movement sleep
compare non-rem sleep