Research
Mixed
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is significantly smaller in REM sleep compared to Non-REM sleep.
When analyzing sleep data, expect lower respiratory sinus arrhythmia (the coupling of breathing and heart rate) during REM sleep compared to Non-REM sleep.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
So the respiratory sinus-arrhythmia is significantly smaller in REM sleep than in Non-REM sleep (Bartsch et al., 2012).
Why this rating
Cited as a finding from specific studies (Bartsch et al., 2012).
Source
Modulations of Heart Rate, ECG, and Cardio-Respiratory Coupling Observed in Polysomnography
Thomas Penzel et al. · Frontiers in Physiology · 2016
DOI 10.3389/fphys.2016.00460
narrative_reviewCited 169×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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