ABSTRACT Adolescence is a critical period for neural and psychological development, during which sleep plays an important functional role. Nightmares are a prominent feature of sleep in adolescence, and are proposed to reflect social, emotional and affective problems specific for this developmental period. Nightmares occur typically during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Furthermore, the mechanisms of REM sleep and its dreaming state are associated with the consolidation of emotional memories with negative valence as well as with many affective disorders. Thus, adolescents with high prevalence of nightmares may be at risk for psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and depression, all of which often cross into more heavy forms in adulthood leading to serious cognitive, mood-related and psycho-social problems, poor academic achievement and invalidation. In this review, we first summarise data about the neurobiology and role of REM sleep for cognition, psychology and emotional processing in normal and psychopathological conditions. Second, we focus on the maturation of REM sleep and its regulatory mechanisms in adolescence. Third, we provide evidence for existing close relationships between nightmares and a number of psychiatric disorders that commonly occur during adolescence. Since adolescence is critical for neurodevelopment, these relationships between nightmares and increased risk for psychiatric illnesses will be discussed in the context of understanding and prevention of psychiatric disorders in adolescence.
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