Rapid Eye Movement Sleep during Early Life: A Comprehensive Narrative Review

Hai-Lin Chen, Jin-Xian Gao, Yu-Nong Chen, Jun-Fan Xie, Yu-Ping Xie, Karen Spruyt, Jian-Sheng Lin, Yu-Feng Shao () and Yi-Ping Hou ()
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Hai-Lin Chen: Departments of Neuroscience, Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 199 Donggang Xi Road, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jin-Xian Gao: Departments of Neuroscience, Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 199 Donggang Xi Road, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yu-Nong Chen: Departments of Neuroscience, Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 199 Donggang Xi Road, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jun-Fan Xie: Departments of Neuroscience, Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 199 Donggang Xi Road, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yu-Ping Xie: Sleep Medicine Center of Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou 730000, China
Karen Spruyt: Université de Paris, NeuroDiderot–INSERM, 75019 Paris, France
Jian-Sheng Lin: Integrative Physiology of the Brain Arousal Systems, CRNL, INSERM U1028-CNRS UMR 5292, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier–Neurocampus Michel Jouvet, 95 Boulevard Pinel, CEDEX, 69675 Bron, France
Yu-Feng Shao: Departments of Neuroscience, Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 199 Donggang Xi Road, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yi-Ping Hou: Departments of Neuroscience, Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, 199 Donggang Xi Road, Lanzhou 730000, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-21

Abstract: The ontogenetic sleep hypothesis suggested that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is ontogenetically primitive. Namely, REM sleep plays an imperative role in the maturation of the central nervous system. In coincidence with a rapidly developing brain during the early period of life, a remarkably large amount of REM sleep has been identified in numerous behavioral and polysomnographic studies across species. The abundant REM sleep appears to serve to optimize a cerebral state suitable for homeostasis and inherent neuronal activities favorable to brain maturation, ranging from neuronal differentiation, migration, and myelination to synaptic formation and elimination. Progressively more studies in Mammalia have provided the underlying mechanisms involved in some REM sleep-related disorders (e.g., narcolepsy, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)). We summarize the remarkable alterations of polysomnographic, behavioral, and physiological characteristics in humans and Mammalia. Through a comprehensive review, we offer a hybrid of animal and human findings, demonstrating that early-life REM sleep disturbances constitute a common feature of many neurodevelopmental disorders. Our review may assist and promote investigations of the underlying mechanisms, functions, and neurodevelopmental diseases involved in REM sleep during early life.

Keywords: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep; sleep ontogeny; neurodevelopmental disorders; infant; childhood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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