Articles on REM sleep

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Could this be the world’s largest Fitbit? Supplied

March 22, 2017

Why it’s so important to understand how elephants sleep

Paul Manger, University of the Witwatersrand

By understanding sleep across animals we can gain insights into improving the quality of human sleep. It can also help to bolster conservation management strategies for the animals in question.

It’s a myth that waking up a sleepwalker is dangerous. from www.shutterstock.com.au

March 20, 2017

Health Check: is sleepwalking problematic and can it be ‘cured’?

Helen Stallman, University of South Australia

People have long been fascinated with sleepwalkers. Is it dangerous?

‘Wakey, wakey, sleepy head.’ shutterstock

February 23, 2017

Why both teens and teachers could benefit from later school start times

James Williams, University of Sussex

A wake-up call for early school mornings?

Around 10% of the population are larks, and 20% true night owls. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

October 17, 2016

Health Check: what determines whether we’re night owls or morning larks?

Fiona Kerr, University of Adelaide

Our internal body clock is set via a combination of biology (nature), light exposure and social scheduling (nurture).

Donald Trump pretending to sleep. The Republican candidate says four hours is enough sleep for him. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

July 27, 2016

Even presidential candidates need sleep

Michael S. Jaffee, University of Florida

Sleep is essential for good executive functioning and for good general health. So how do candidates keep up the grueling demands of their schedules?

Dreams may be our innermost, suppressed wishes. charnsitr/shutterstock

July 14, 2016

Was Freud right about dreams after all? Here’s the research that helps explain it

Josie Malinowski, University of East London

It seems we do dream of the things we try to suppress.

January 7, 2016

The ability to control dreams may help us unravel the mystery of consciousness

Dan Denis, University of Sheffield and Giulia Poerio, University of York

About half of us will experience at least one lucid dream in our lives, where we are aware and may be able to take control of it. What can this tell us about consciousness?

Does listening to certain songs help us slip into the ether? 'Clouds' via www.shutterstock.com

November 13, 2015

Can listening to music help you fall asleep?

Joseph F Chandler, Birmingham-Southern College

Composer Max Richter – with his epic, eight-hour-long piece Sleep – aims to be an auditory sandman.

Imagine being unable to talk or move when faced with an evil intruder.

October 5, 2015

Understanding sleep paralysis: a terrifying but unique state of consciousness

Dan Denis, University of Sheffield

Sleep paralysis is an enigmatic, terrifying condition in which the mind is awake but the body is asleep. But how much do we actually know about it?

We now have the technology to do track our sleep through the night, but that may be doing more harm than good. Marisa/Flickr

September 28, 2015

Health Check: is your sleep app keeping you up at night?

Sarah Biggs, Monash University

Tracking sleep is now routine in monitoring overall well-being. But are the devices used to do this actually useful, or have we simply found a more sophisticated way to clock watch?

Popular characters such as Sleeping Beauty illustrate our enduring interest in tales of people who sleep continuously or cannot stay awake. Sofi/flickr

September 15, 2015

The big sleep: science is waking up to the curious story of narcolepsy

Ron Grunstein, University of Sydney

Perhaps because we all need sleep, we have an enduring interest in sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, which causes a constant irrepressible need for sleep.

Scientists have pinned down what happens inside the brain when the scenes change in our dreams. Shutterstock

August 12, 2015

Forget Freud, research on dream imagery may help us understand consciousness

Uma Shahani, Glasgow Caledonian University

Your eye movements may be changing the images in your dreams when you sleep.

Dreams and their purpose have been one of the enduring mysteries of sleep. diastème (Sarah Giboni)/Flickr

August 12, 2015

Unravelling the mysteries of sleep: how the brain ‘sees’ dreams

Melinda Jackson, RMIT University and Rachel Schembri, RMIT University

Brain activity during the dreaming phase of sleep is remarkably similar to brain activity when we're awake and processing new visual images, new research shows.

Top contributors

Dan Denis
Postdoctoral researcher, Harvard University
Sarah Biggs
Postdoctoral Fellow, Paediatric Sleep, Monash University
Ron Grunstein
Professor of Sleep Medicine and NHMRC Practitioner Fellow, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney
James Williams
Lecturer in Science Education, Sussex School of Education and Social Work, University of Sussex
Melinda Jackson
Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University
Rachel Schembri
Post-doctoral research fellow, School of Health Sciences, RMIT University
Uma Shahani
Lecturer in Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University
Joseph F Chandler
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Birmingham-Southern College
Giulia Poerio
Post-doctoral Researcher and Hubbub Collaborator, University of York
Helen Stallman
Senior Lecturer - Clinical Psychology, University of South Australia
Josie Malinowski
Lecturer in Psychology, University of East London
Michael S. Jaffee
Vice chair, Department of Neurology, University of Florida
Fiona Kerr
Neural & Systems Complexity Specialist, Faculties of Professions and Health Sciences, University of Adelaide
Paul Manger
Professor of Comparative and Evolutionary Neurobiology, University of the Witwatersrand