Variations in Behavioral Response Threshold Within the REM Period of Human Sleep

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Abstract
Behavioral response threshold measures were compared between REM tonic, REM phasic, as well as NREM‐2 sleep. Eighteen young college males were each instructed to respond with one or two microswitch presses upon detection of either of two tones triggered during two non‐consecutive nights of sleep in the laboratory. Repeated measures comparisons (ANOVA) of average response threshold values, as determined via a method of limits procedure, showed REM tonic values to be significantly lower than both REM phasic and NREM‐2 values while the latter two did not differ significantly from each other. The average of REM period threshold values was significantly lower than NREM‐2 values, solely by virtue of the tonic component of the REM period. These differences within the REM period may account in part for greater variance in REM‐period behavioral thresholds within and between similar studies. This consideration deserves attention in any attempt to compare the REM period as a whole to NREM‐2 stage measures of responsiveness.