On Thursday a sleep expert testified that Michael Jackson is the only human he's ever heard of to go two months without Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, Alan Duke of CNN reports.
REM sleep is vital to keep the brain and body alive.
Dr. Conrad Murray gave Jackson infusions of Propofol, an anesthetic used during surgery, to treat the superstar's insomnia for 60 straight days before the 50-year-old died of an overdose of the drug on June 25, 2009.
Sleep expert Dr. Charles Czeisler, a Harvard Medical School sleep expert testifying at the wrongful death trial of concert promoter AEG Live, explained that Propofol offers no REM sleep, despite leaving the patient feeling refreshed as if they had experienced genuine sleep.
Czeisler — a sleep consultant to NASA, the CIA, and the Rolling Stones — said no one had ever undergone such a treatment.
He added that the lack of REM sleep may have soon killed The King of Pop anyway, noting that lab rats die after five weeks of getting no REM sleep.
"It would be like eating some sort of cellulose pellets instead of dinner," Czeisler said. "Your stomach would be full and you would not be hungry, but it would be zero calories and not fulfill any of your nutrition needs."
Jackson, the most successful entertainer of all time, was preparing for an epic concert run.
Czeisler told the court that people who are deprived of REM sleep for long periods become paranoid, anxiety-filled, depressed, unable to learn, distracted, sloppy.
He added that they lose their balance and appetite, their physical reflexes get 10 times slower, and their emotional responses 10 times stronger.
Duke notes that those symptoms are very similar to "descriptions of Jackson in his last weeks as described in e-mails from show producers and testimony by witnesses in the trial."
Check out the full rundown of the trial at CNN >
SEE ALSO: The Dangers Of Sleep Deprivation [INFOGRAPHIC]
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