Re:Deep Sleep May Help the Brain Clear Alzheimer's Toxins
by joveian on Friday November 01, 2019 @02:57PM
(#21422496)
I agree that particularly strong and extended dream recall is a bad sign (that kind of thing is supposed to be blocked during sleep), but REM sleep is not a precursor to deep sleep. They are independent and usually deep sleep is entered most early in the night and REM later. REM episodes soon after getting to sleep are a sign of narcolepsy. Some medications (including some antidepressants) reduce or nearly eliminate REM sleep. Dreaming has been connected to dopamine that can also be affected by many medications and a variety of other things (like exercise). There are a bunch of sleep realted substances that still have unknown function so I'm sure there are a bunch of things that can go wrong completely outside the realm of current medical science.
Re:Deep Sleep May Help the Brain Clear Alzheimer's Toxins
by theli0nheart on Friday November 01, 2019 @03:39PM
(#21422890)
Err. I made a typo. You're correct. Non-REM deep sleep comes first and REM comes second.
I had a sleep study done which indicated I get very little deep sleep, but no apnea.
Another data point is that I remember almost all of my dreams; I could literally write a few short stories if I wanted to every morning. Frequent dream recall is not a good sign since it indicates that REM is getting disrupted. REM is the precursor to deep sleep, so if REM is getting disrupted, you're probably not making it to Phase 3.