Nerve Cells Associated with Sleep Targeted in Anxiety Disorders    New research suggests a group of cells activated during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is critical for the regulation of emotional memory processing.

Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers say their finding could one day help lead to the development of effective behavioral and pharmacological therapies to treat anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias and panic attacks.

The research findings are published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Experts explain that there are two main stages of sleep — REM and non-REM — and both are necessary to maintain health and to regulate multiple memory systems, including emotional memory.

Non-REM sleep is associated with repair and maintenance as the body repairs tissue and improves the function of the body’s immune system.

During REM sleep, the brain becomes more active and the muscles of the body become paralyzed. Dreaming generally occurs during REM sleep, as well as physiological events including saccadic eye movements and rapid fluctuations of respiration, heart rate and body temperature.

One particular hallmark of REM sleep is the appearance of phasic pontine waves (P-waves). The P-wave is a unique brain wave generated by the activation of a group of cells involving the neurotransmitter glutamate. This particular group is in the brainstem in a structure called the pons.

Researchers say the memories of fearful experiences can lead to enduring alterations in emotion and behavior and sleep plays a natural emotional regulatory role after stressful and traumatic events.



Current intervention frequently includes exposure therapy, which involves controlled re-exposure to the original fearful experience. This modality is considered one of the most effective evidence-based treatments for anxiety disorders.




“Given the inconsistency and unpredictability of exposure therapy, we are working to identify which process(es) during REM sleep dictate the success or failure of exposure therapy,” said Subimal Datta, Ph.D., director and principal investigator at the Laboratory of Sleep and Cognitive Neuroscience and the study’s lead author.






Researchers call for future studies to explore how to activate this mechanism in order to help develop potential pharmacological treatments; these could complement exposure therapy to better treat anxiety and other psychological disorders.

Source: Boston University Medical Center

Abstract image of the brain photo by shutterstock.