Involuntary muscle movements during REM sleep are called myoclonus. This phenomenon is typical not only for people, but also for animals.
Causes of myoclonus in dogs
Surely every dog owner has noticed how the pet seems to be running in a dream or twitching.
Probably, the dogs are dreaming about the past day: a walk in the park, an active game with you.
In addition, dogs may whine and even bark in their sleep.
People begin to move in their sleep if the dream is too realistic and colorful.
The same is likely to happen with dogs.
Scientists can't say for sure, but they speculate that dogs experience similar experiences to humans.
Most mammals have the same sleep phases as humans.
So, despite the paralyzing mechanism in sleep, dogs can imitate running and other movements in their sleep due to vivid and colorful dreams.
In addition, scientists have found that dogs, like humans, use dreams to improve memory.
A group of dogs were taught new commands. One part of the group went to sleep, while the other remained awake.
Those animals that went to bed after the new information learned the commands better.
