Elda Arrigoni News Today

A surprising set of findings has implicated the “happy hormone” dopamine as having a central role in our brains’ switch into rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, the part of our sleep cycle during which we dream.

What triggers the mammalian sleep cycle's shift between non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep? A new study in mice suggests increased levels of dopamine in a key region of the brain during NREM sleep play an important role in this transition.