Modifying Oculomotor Activity in Awake Subjects Increases the Amplitude of Eye Movements During REM Sleep

The eye movements of human subjects were experimentally modified while they were awake to determine the effect of waking experience on electroculographic activity during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. After normal eye movements were monitored under controlled conditions, subjects spent 5 days wearing goggles that contained minification lenses and that curtailed vision to a 5 degree field. The amplitude and frequency of eye movements decreased when subjects were awake and increased during REM sleep; sleep stage durations and distributions were unaffected. Values returned to normal in the first 24 hours of recovery.