"[REM sleep] is when the brain activities pick up, you have vivid dreams and the body experiences temporary paralysis of the muscles," Smith adds. "It's vital for restoring the mind and helping the ...

REM sleep--the phase of night-time mammalian sleep physiology where dreams occur--has long fascinated scientists, clinicians, philosophers, and artists alike, but the identity of the neurons that ...

The average person spends around a third of their life sleeping. Yet as many as 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders and wakefulness, studies have found, and tossing and turning at ...

What triggers the mammalian sleep cycle's shift between non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep? A new study in mice suggests increased levels of dopamine in a key region of ...

Sneezing is a reflex that helps expel pollen, dust, and other irritants from your nasal passages. Your brain prevents reflexes in NREM sleep and muscle movements in REM sleep, so you can't sneeze.

A new study shows that even a moderate dose of caffeine alters brain activity during sleep, increasing complexity and nudging neural systems toward a high-efficiency processing state, especially in ...

In December 1963, 17-year-old Randy Gardner embarked on an ambitious science fair project: to stay awake for as long as humanly possible. The high schooler’s David Blaine-esque stunt won him first ...

During the tranquil one-third of our lives that we spend asleep, the human body does something that might not seem restful at all: REM sleep, short for rapid eye movement, is a phase of sleep that ...

Sleep is a time for your body to rest and recover from the day. Your heart slows down, and your breathing relaxes. Unfortunately, not everyone experiences constant restful sleep. Obstructive sleep ...