What emerges from all of these studies is that REM sleep is not optional during early human life, but obligatory. Every hour of REM sleep appears to count, as evidenced by the attempt by a fetus or newborn to regain REM sleep when it is lost.X Sadly, we do not yet fully understand what the long-term effects are of fetal or neonate REM-sleep disruption, alcohol-triggered or otherwise. Only that blocking or reducing REM sleep in newborn animals hinders and distorts brain development, leading to an adult that is socially abnormal.
