AASM Sleep Technologist Practice Test

Session length

1 / 20

Barbiturate use is associated with a decrease in which sleep stage?

REM

Barbiturates blunt REM sleep. As powerful CNS depressants that boost GABAergic inhibition, they dampen the brainstem circuits that generate REM sleep. This leads to longer time before the first REM period and a reduced amount of REM across the night. Meanwhile non-REM sleep, especially lighter stages, becomes more prominent under the sedative influence. So the sleep stage that decreases with barbiturate use is REM.

N2

N1

Wakefulness

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