Takeaway
People with more rapid eye movement (REM) sleep without atonia (RSWA) are more likely to develop a neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), and they phenoconvert faster if they have increased anterior tibialis (AT) and submentalis (SM) muscle movement during RSWA.
Why this matters
Idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is associated with phenoconversion to early PD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
RSWA is a form of iRBD that is easier to identify clinically through phasic short duration high amplitude muscle activity and tonic muscle activity; however, it is unknown if any characteristics of RSWA are associated with phenoconversion.