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Review
. 2021 Jan;110(1):36-44.
doi: 10.1111/apa.15485. Epub 2020 Aug 8.

Current ideas about the roles of rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement sleep in brain development

Marit S Knoop  1 , Eline R de Groot  1 , Jeroen Dudink  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Current ideas about the roles of rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement sleep in brain development

Marit S Knoop et al. Acta Paediatr. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Understanding the links between sleep and brain development is important, as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep seem to contribute to different aspects of brain maturation. If children have sleep problems, REM sleep and NREM sleep are likely to have different consequences for their developing brain, depending on their age. We highlight important discoveries from human and animal research on the role sleep plays in brain development. A hypothetical model is presented to explain the dynamic relationship of REM sleep and NREM sleep with different processes of brain maturation, with implications for current neonatal care and future research.

Keywords: brain development; child maturation; neonatal care; rapid eye movement; sleep ontogeny.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Distribution of human sleep states across development. The number of hours spent in wake (green), NREM sleep (blue) and REM sleep (orange) is shown for each developmental stage. REM sleep dominates in the prenatal and neonatal periods. From infancy onwards, NREM sleep becomes increasingly more present. NREM, non‐REM; REM, rapid eye movement. Based on Roffwarg et al 9 and Kaplan et al 20
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The adolescent sleep cycle. During a night's sleep, REM and NREM sleep states alternate in a cyclic fashion, occasionally interrupted by brief periods of near wakefulness or wakefulness. Early sleep is dominated by the three stages of NREM sleep, and in particular the slow‐wave sleep of NREM stage 3 (depicted in blue). Late sleep is characterised by a high incidence of REM sleep (orange). NREM, non‐REM; REM, rapid eye movement. Based on Diekelman and Born 5
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