A Data-Driven Measure of REM Sleep Propensity for Human and Rodent Sleep

TL;DR

This study introduces a data-driven measure of REM sleep propensity across humans, rats, and mice, revealing similar patterns in REMS buildup and its relation to sleep cycle characteristics.

Contribution

It extends previous mouse-based REMS propensity analysis to humans and rats, demonstrating cross-species similarities in REMS regulation mechanisms.

Findings

REMS propensity increases with NREMS duration before peaking and then decays.

Positive correlation between REMS propensity at REMS onset and REMS bout duration.

Humans, rats, and mice exhibit similar REMS buildup patterns despite sleep architecture differences.

Abstract

Mammalian sleep is characterized by multiple alternations between episodes of rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS) and non-REM sleep (NREMS). While the mechanisms governing the timing of these ultradian NREMS-REMS cycles remain poorly understood, the phenomenon of REMS pressure, namely a drive for REMS that builds up between REMS episodes, is thought to be a contributing factor. Prior analyses of NREMS-REMS cycles in mice has suggested that time in NREMS is a primary contributor to REMS pressure. Building on that finding, we previously introduced a REMS propensity measure defined as the probability to enter REMS before the accumulation of an additional amount of NREMS. Analyzing mouse ultradian cycle data, we showed that REMS propensity at REMS onset was positively correlated with REMS bout duration and with the probability of the occurrence of a REMS bout followed by a short inter-REMS interval, called a sequential REMS cycle. In this paper, we extend our analyses of REMS propensity to human and rat ultradian NREMS-REMS cycle data. We show that, as in mice, human and rat sleep contain both short NREMS-REMS sequential cycles and longer single NREMS-REMS cycles, though there are some differences in the relative distributions of cycle durations. Although rodents exhibit polyphasic sleep in contrast with the consolidated sleep of humans, the calculated REMS propensity measures in all three species show similar profiles as functions of time spent in NREMS: specifically, REMS propensity increases with time spent in NREMS until it reaches a peak value, and then it decays with additional time in NREMS. Positive correlations of REMS propensity at REMS onset with REMS bout duration were present in both human and rat data as in mouse data, suggesting that time spent in NREMS also influences REMS duration in these species.