Alexis Fernandez-Preiksa

So in REM sleep behavior disorder, this muscle paralysis is incomplete or it's absent altogether, which means that this individual can

physically act out their dreams while they are in their REM stage.

So this can cause a lot of injury to themselves, of course, because they could be like hitting things with their limbs.

They could be getting out of bed.

They could be really hurting themselves.

And, of course, it could be hurting if they sleep with a significant other.

They can be, like, fully beating up their significant other unintentionally.

Well, hopefully unintentionally.

So the key features of REM sleep behaviour disorder are vivid and violent dreams.

So this is where people with this disorder have these intense, physically active dreams that...

can and often are violent or aggressive, but not always.

It doesn't have to be violent or aggressive.

And this can include behaviors of like sleep talking, shouting, kicking, punching, jumping out of bed in the middle of their sleep.

Like it's intense.

Okay.

Then the next feature is lack of muscle atonia.

So this is where you're not getting that normal tension.

muscle paralysis that should be happening during REM sleep, there's this absence of it.

And then of course, another feature is this high potential for injury.

So because there's all this physical activity, you're at much higher risk of injuring yourself when you're asleep.