title: Breakdown in REM sleep circuitry underlies REM sleep behavior disorder.
abstract: During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, skeletal muscles are almost paralyzed. However, in REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), which is a rare neurological condition, muscle atonia is lost, leaving afflicted individuals free to enact their dreams. Although this may sound innocuous, it is not, given that patients with RBD often injure themselves or their bed-partner. A major concern in RBD is that it precedes, in 80% of cases, development of synucleinopathies, such as Parkinson's disease (PD). This link suggests that neurodegenerative processes initially target the circuits controlling REM sleep. Clinical and basic neuroscience evidence indicates that RBD results from breakdown of the network underlying REM sleep atonia. This finding is important because it opens new avenues for treating RBD and understanding its link to neurodegenerative disorders.
authors.affiliation: Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, Departments of Cell and Systems Biology and Physiology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: john.peever@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peever
authors.affiliation: Sleep Team, Center of Neuroscience of Lyon, UMR 5292 CNRS/U1028 INSERM, University of Lyon, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Pierre-Hervé
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Luppi
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Université de Montréal Québec, Montréal, QC Canada.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montplaisir
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020187:REM Sleep Behavior Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*