Maturation of REM-patterns from childhood to maturity.

The operational value of measuring paradoxical sleep (PS) as a percentage of total sleeping time has been questioned. The purpose of this study was to determine the interactions between the variations in hormonal secretions and paradoxical sleep in women of different age-groups. Three parameters were utilized: REM-percent, REM-density and the eye movement frequencies. The distribution of the time-intervals between the oculomotor signals as indicated by the ratio of the higher to the lower eye movement frequencies gives a clue as to the significance of the spatio-temporal organization of the brain-signals during paradoxical sleep. This notion introduces an internal temporal and dynamic dimension in the concept of REM or Paradoxical Sleep. From our results it appears that the changes in the ratio between the different types of oculomotor discharges are a function not only of hormonal fluctuations but also of age. This point of view opens a new possibility of interpreting the results.