REM Sleep on Dream

Question: Describe about the REM Sleep on Dream? Answer: What does the influence of stimuli presented during REM sleep on dream content suggest about consciousness? The term sleep is defined as a state of altered consciousness due to inhibition of functions of sensory and voluntary muscles. The sleep occurs in four stages including drowsy period (stage I); slowly develops stage II; stage III (moderate to deep sleep); and stage IV sleep. The stage IV is referred as rapid eye movement sleep (REM), where the individual show deepest level of sleep (Purves, Augustine Fitzpatrick, 2001). Diverse neural systems influences the sleep cycle and thus influences the wakefulness (Schredl, Atanasova, Hormann, Maurer, Hummel, Stuck, 2009). The group of neurons from pons region of brainstem are responsible for the regulation of the REM sleep. The neurotransmitter, acetylcholine activates the pons and involves in sending an inhibitory signals to spinal cord in order to cause a temporary atonia. In addition, it stops the secretion of neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, serotonin and histamine) that are responsible for the stimulation of muscle activity. The slee p in general and REM sleep in particular is being influenced by light, jetlag, pain, tension, drugs and environment (Factors, 2007), as they acts as an external stimulus to alter the REM sleep. Thus the external stimuli as resulted from either of the factor can contribute for the disruption of REM sleep and possibly on dream. The conscious is an essential aspect pertaining to cognitive function. The part of brain that modulates the consciousness is amygdale as a result of influence from stimuli. It further induces the secretion of neurotransmitters responsible for muscle activity and makes the individual alert for transient time during REM sleep. If the stimuli are non-noxious stimuli and repeatedly presented, the REM sleep duration is prolonged and the base line is going to be decreased (Vazquez, Merchant-Nancy, Garcia Drucker-Colin, 1998). In contrast, the stimuli pertaining to olfactory stimuli show diverse influence on consciousness during REM sleep as they possess stronger effect on limbic system. The positive and negative toned dreams could be observed with positive and negative stimuli due to alterations in olfactory function and strongly and significantly influences the emotional content of dreams. The olfactory stimuli also act on amygdala during REM sleep and affects the dream (Schredl, Atanaso va, Hormann, Maurer, Hummel, Stuck, 2009). In conclusion, the stimuli influence the dram during REM sleep and possibly make the individual alert (conscious). However, the extent of consciousness depends on the magnitude of stimuli. References Factors (18-Dec-2007) External Factors that Influence Sleep Retrieved from https://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/how/external-factors Purves, D., Augustine GJ Fitzpatrick, D (2001). Stages of Sleep from Neuroscience. 2nd edition. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10996/ Schredl, M., Atanasova, D., Hormann, K., Maurer, JT., Hummel, T Stuck, BA (2009) Information processing during sleep: the effect of olfactory stimuli on dream content and dream emotions. J Sleep Res. 18(3), 285-90. Vazquez, J., Merchant-Nancy, H., Garcia, F Drucker-Colin, R (1998) The effects of sensory stimulation on REM sleep duration. Sleep. 21(2), 138-42.