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Considering REM sleep-like stages among the traits defining cognitively complex lineages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2025

Andrea Becchetti Open the ORCID record for Andrea Becchetti [Opens in a new window]
Andrea Becchetti*
Affiliation:
Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy andrea.becchetti@unimib.it
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Sleep stages resembling the REM and non-REM (NREM) phases observed in mammals and birds were recently found in other vertebrates, cephalopods, and euarthropods. REM sleep-like stages could mark a leap in cognitive evolution, by regulating the visuomotor elaboration that Coombs and Trestman deem essential for the cognitively complex lineages. The more widespread NREM sleep-like stages likely modulate metabolism and homeostasis of synaptic circuits.

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Open Peer Commentary
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e83
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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