ABSTRACT
The effects of selective deprivation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep reveal a powerful drive to enter REM sleep. People often think it would be useful not to bother sleeping; that sleeping is a waste of time. But if we try to do without any sleep, the desire to sleep increases markedly and it is difficult to stay awake after the first 48 hours. This suggests that sleep is essential, and serves some important function or functions. Curiously, although sleep seems to be essential, prolonged sleep deprivation is accompanied by very little physiological change, and little interference with cognitive processes. In 1983, A. Rechtschaffen and others developed a method of extending sleep deprivation in rats beyond that possible voluntarily in humans. A yoked pair of rats is placed in cages on a turntable. The case has been reported of a soldier who suffered a localized wound to the pons.
