Prepare for the Certification in Clinical Sleep Health exam. Use flashcards and multiple-choice questions with hints and explanations. Ace your exam!

Multiple Choice

In REM sleep, the O2 response is:

During REM sleep, the body’s response to carbon dioxide is dampened, so CO2-driven breathing reflexes are reduced. At the same time, the peripheral chemoreceptors that detect low oxygen remain active and capable of driving ventilation. This means that when oxygen levels fall, the drive to breathe is still similar to what you’d have while awake, even though breathing becomes irregular and there’s atonia of the muscles. Therefore, the O2 (hypoxic) ventilatory response during REM is essentially the same as in wakefulness.

During REM sleep, the body’s response to carbon dioxide is dampened, so CO2-driven breathing reflexes are reduced. At the same time, the peripheral chemoreceptors that detect low oxygen remain active and capable of driving ventilation. This means that when oxygen levels fall, the drive to breathe is still similar to what you’d have while awake, even though breathing becomes irregular and there’s atonia of the muscles. Therefore, the O2 (hypoxic) ventilatory response during REM is essentially the same as in wakefulness.