RAPID EYE MOVEMENT

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does rapid eye movement mean? 

• RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (noun)
  The noun RAPID EYE MOVEMENT has 1 sense:

1. a recurring sleep state during which dreaming occurs; a state of rapidly shifting eye movements during sleep

  Familiarity information: RAPID EYE MOVEMENT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A recurring sleep state during which dreaming occurs; a state of rapidly shifting eye movements during sleep

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

paradoxical sleep; rapid eye movement; rapid eye movement sleep; REM; REM sleep

Hypernyms ("rapid eye movement" is a kind of...):

sleep; slumber (a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended)

 Context examples 

Rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep is a fascinating period when most of our dreams are made.

(The brain may actively forget during dream sleep, National Institutes of Health)

Cerebrospinal fluid during non–rapid eye movement sleep also clears metabolic waste products from the brain.

(Deep Sleep May Play Role in Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A group of researchers led by Takeshi Sakurai, Vice Director of the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, found that acute optogenetic excitation of GABAergic neurons in BNST during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in mice resulted in immediate transition to a wakefulness state without the function of orexins, highly important neuropeptides for maintaining wakefulness.

(The Secret Connection between Anxiety, Sleep, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Using a cutting-edge NeuroGrid system they invented, along with recording electrodes placed deeper into the brain, the researchers examined activity in several parts of rats’ brains during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, the longest stage of sleep.

(Study shows how memories ripple through the brain, National Institutes of Health)