ABSTRACT
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by sleep interruption or trauma due to abnormal behaviors that occur during REM sleep. The pathophysiology of RBD is known to be a dysfunction of brainstem circuit that causes the loss of skeletal muscle atonia during REM sleep. The diagnosis of RBD is needed to confirm REM sleep without atonia in the polysomnography. The management of RBD includes not only drug treatment, but also to prevent injury from RBD and to follow-up on neurodegenerative diseases that may occur later. RBD is thought to be a prodromal stage of neurodegenerative disease associated with α-synucleoinopathy, such as Parkinson's Disease or multiple system atrophy. This article reviews the symptoms, epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of RBD, the relevance of neurodegenerative diseases, and recent research trends.