What happens in our brain when we are in REM sleep? REM sleep = Rapid Eye Movement sleep.

Question: What happens in our brain when we are in REM sleep? REM sleep = Rapid Eye Movement sleep.
- Keywords:
  body,
  human,
  neuroscience
Asked by obiwankenobi to Aled, Ellie, Fiona, Kev, Willem on 12 Mar 2014.
- Eleanor Parker answered on 12 Mar 2014:
  
  Hi obiwankenobi,
  REM sleep is interesting in that our brains are not really asleep at all. The brain has a very similar level of activity during REM sleep as when we are awake. This is why we often have most of our vivid dreams that we remember best during REM sleep, because our brain is still mostly awake!
  But, during REM sleep some neurons (brain cells) in the brain stem (which is at the bottom of the brain) called REM sleep-on cells are switched on. These cells stop the other neurons releasing chemical messengers which means our nerves can’t make our muscles work. This is why our body is asleep during REM sleep, even though our brains are mostly awake!

obiwankenobi commented on 14 Mar 2014:

Interesting, some chemicals are blocked which stops us from doing all our dreams in real life! I wonder what happens when you are LUCID Dreaming?

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Question: What happens in our brain when we are in REM sleep? REM sleep = Rapid Eye Movement sleep.