Alexis Fernandez-Preiksa

And it's believed that a deficiency in GABA, not enough inhibition, or decreased levels of GABA or decreased response to GABA,

in the brainstem is what is contributing to this loss of muscle atonia.

So that's why you're getting too much activity because there's not enough inhibition.

Then we've got dopamine.

So dopamine has been found to be involved in this disorder because dopamine is...

It's like a critical player when it comes to movement.

If you look at diseases such as Parkinson's disease, you're seeing a reduction in the dopamine-producing neurons within the brain because it's heavily involved in motor control and motor function.

And an imbalance in dopamine levels is going to disrupt this regulation of muscle atonia.

And you also see with a lot of people with REM sleep disorder may also develop some sort of neurodegenerative disorder.

And we don't know if REM sleep disorder is a sign, an early warning sign that this neurodegenerative disorder has begun, or if REM sleep disorder is kind of like this is happening independently, but the more it happens, it could then cause this.

That's what we don't know.

But...

At the moment, we're taking it as a potential early warning sign.

And the reason I say that is because not everyone who has REM sleep disorder goes to develop a neurodegenerative disorder such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease, any kind of neurodegeneration.

Then we've got serotonin.

So serotonin is another neurotransmitter and it's also involved, yes, in mood, but it's heavily involved in sleep regulation and muscle tone control.

So you've got acetylcholine, you've got GABA, dopamine and serotonin.

So, yeah, that's kind of what's causing all the things that are contributing to causing this REM sleep disorder.

Now, keep in mind that there's many things that can also cause REM sleep disorder.

So imbalances in neurotransmitters will vary from patient to patient.