Summary
The goal of Rapid Eye Movement Restoration and Enhancement of Sleep-derived Trauma-adaptation (REM REST) Disruption Opportunity is to demonstrate new technologies that enhance the means by which REM sleep supports healthy adaptation to stress and trauma.
Disrupted sleep is a major cause of poor physical, mental, and emotional health. Among military service members, disrupted sleep prior to deployment is predictive of a nearly five-times increase in likelihood of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following deployment.
Yet, approximately two-thirds of all service members experience chronically disrupted sleep, and reduced sleep time during deployment is the norm. Sleep is critical to recovery following stressful experiences. In particular, REM sleep is widely understood to support healthy adaptation to stress and trauma.
Therefore, novel solutions to restoring and enhancing the mechanisms by which REM sleep promotes adaptation to stress and trauma could provide important breakthroughs for treating sleep disturbances, improving overall sleep quality, and preventing PTSD and other behavioral health outcomes, such as suicide, associated with disrupted REM sleep.