SubscribePeople who regularly act out their dreams at night have a disorder called REM sleep behavioral disorder (RBD). Frequently, these patients can injure themselves or their spouses and not even realize it.
During normal REM sleep, the part of the brain that activates movement of the arms and legs is gated closed and silenced, so that your limbs are paralyzed. When this mechanism fails, RBD ensues.
A recent study done by the Mayo clinic indicates that a startlingly large number of people with RBD (two-thirds!) will, within 11 years time, go on to develop a synucleinopathy: a neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson’s disease or Lewy Body dementia.
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REM sleep behavior disorder is more common in older men. And, yes, there seems to be a linked between RBD and degenerative disorders like Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia. Experts are looking into it. Who knows? They might be able to figure out how to arrest the development of dementia if a specific link has been identified.