Human REM sleep: influence on feeding behaviour, with clinical implications

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Sleep Science
• Behavioral Biology

Background:

• Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep shares mechanisms with wakefulness, unlike non-REM sleep.
• REM sleep is prominent in infancy and declines with age, appearing dispensable.
• Human adults retain significant REM sleep, especially in the final REM period (fREMP) near wakefulness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the unique role of REM sleep in humans, particularly fREMP.
• To explore REM sleep's connection to feeding behaviors, appetite, and energy balance.
• To propose REM sleep's potential anti-obesity properties and influence on food preferences.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of REM sleep in humans versus other mammals.
• Examination of fREMP's characteristics and potential forfeiture.
• Review of existing literature on REM sleep, feeding behaviors, and energy regulation.

Main Results:

• fREMP acts as a wakefulness proxy, substitutable by locomotion, with REM atonia mirroring this.
• Nocturnal sleep, especially fREMP, can induce physiological fasting and suppress appetite.
• Loss of fREMP may increase appetite, contributing to weight gain in short sleepers.
• REM sleep influences hedonic food selection, preferences, and dislikes.
• REM sleep regulates energy balance, including exercise substitution and heat retention.

Conclusions:

• Human REM sleep, especially fREMP, is unusual and serves functions linked to wakefulness, feeding, and energy balance.
• fREMP's dispensability and potential loss are linked to appetite, obesity, and eating disorders.
• Further research is needed on REM sleep's role in feeding behaviors, eating disorders, and medication effects.