What Happens To Our Brains While We Sleep
A new study published in Science Advances looked at the physiology and functionality of REM sleep in a group of rats. They displayed an insight into cortical activity and the subcortical pathways. They prevented the rats from entering REM sleep for three days. Six hours before the assessment, half of the rats were allowed to sleep as normal. The other half were deprived from REM sleep.
The rats allowed to sleep showed raised levels of REM sleep within those six hours. The rats who went substantial REM sleep before testing demonstrated a greater expression of several genes that are connected with synaptic plasticity. This also affects the efficiency of neural transmission in the hippocampus. The REM sleep functions seems to be due to changes in the way the neurons communicate.
