Everyone knows that the stress can have harmful effects on our health. However, this new Chinese study surprised many people by showing that the effects of stress on sleep can be positive. In this case, the study was carried out by Chinese scientists in partnership with the Imperial London College and revealed new ways of inducing REM sleep and relieving anxiety. anxiety. Even researchers are already evaluating the chance of a treatment based on these conclusions.
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Stress can induce REM sleep
Before understanding a little more about this study, it will be necessary to talk about the differentiation between deep sleep and REM sleep. In this case, REM represents a moment of lighter sleep, with greater eye movement. Thus, studies indicate that it is at this stage that dreams occur, as opposed to deep, dreamless sleep.
But what few people know is that dreams are essential to help us relate the information of our days. In addition, through them, we will be able to have greater contact with our concerns and process our emotional demands. Therefore, more and more scientists are trying to discover how exactly to induce REM sleep and, consequently, stimulate dreams. Thus, the new study that points to stress as a possible cause of the REM stage may open the door to new treatment possibilities for anxiety.
How did the study go?
To reach this conclusion, the team of researchers worked with a group of mice. This type of scientific analysis is not uncommon, mainly because it is possible to relate several physiological similarities between mammals.
So, the goal was to induce stress to analyze its effects on sleep, and for that they used another group of strong and aggressive rats. Consequently, the second group of rodents intimidated the more peaceful mice, putting them through situations of extreme stress. However, what was the researchers' surprise when they saw that agitation actually managed to induce REM sleep in the rodents. What's more, these same mice experienced a decrease in anxiety after waking up. Now, we hope to study more about how we can systematize the induction of REM sleep and deal with problems such as ADHD.
