REM Sleep Parasomnias

The allele HLA-DQB1 05 is overrepresented in somnambulism ( 35 of sleepwalkers and 13.3 controls), as well as REM sleep disorders and narcolepsy, but she was negative for this. ... In support of parasomnia however, she wakes in the first third of sleep,

Archives of Neurology, a monthly professional medical journal published by the American Medical Association, publishes original, peer-reviewed scientific research on the nervous system

There is little knowledge on sleepwalking in ancient times even though it is a very common condition. The aim of this report is to describe the backgrounds of medical knowledge on somnambulism in the 19th century, a key period in the development of neurosciences, by analysing its representation in two famous Italian operas: La Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini and Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi. The 19th-century operas may be considered as a crossing point between the popular and intellectual world

Guidelines for weighing the importance of beneficence and respect for patient autonomy in a specific case. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.|Guidelines for weighing the importance of beneficence and respect for patient autonomy in a specific case. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.

Archives of Neurology, a monthly professional medical journal published by the American Medical Association, publishes original, peer-reviewed scientific research on the nervous system

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by the loss of muscle atonia during paradoxical (REM) sleep (PS). Conversely, cataplexy, one of the key symptoms of narcolepsy, is a striking sudden episode of muscle weakness triggered by emotions during wakefulness, and comparable to REM sleep atonia. The neuronal dysfunctions responsible for RBD and cataplexy are not known. In the present review, we present the most recent results on the neuronal network responsible for PS. Based on these results, we propose an updated integrated model of the mechanisms responsible for PS and explore different hypotheses explaining RBD and cataplexy. We propose that RBD is due to a specific degeneration of a sub-population of PS-on glutamatergic neurons specifically responsible of muscle atonia, localized in the caudal pontine sublaterodorsal tegmental nucleus (SLD). Another possibility is the occurrence in RBD patients of a specific lesion of the

To validate a questionnaire focused on rapid eye movement sleep (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) among participants in an aging and dementia cohort.|RBD is a parasomnia that can develop in otherwise neurologically-normal adults as well as in those with a neurodegenerative disease. Confirmation of RBD requires polysomnography (PSG). A simple screening measure for RBD is desirable for clinical and research purposes.|We had previously developed the Mayo Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ), a 16 item measure, to screen for the presence of RBD and other sleep disorders. We assessed the validity of the MSQ by comparing the responses of patients' bed partners with the findings on PSG. All subjects recruited in the Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Mayo Clinic Rochester and Mayo Clinic Jacksonville from 1/00 to 7/08 who had also undergone a PSG were the focus of this analysis.|The study sample was comprised of 176 subjects (150 male; median age 71 years (range 39-90)), with the following

Parasomnia overlap disorder (POD) refers to a sleep disorder characterized by the association of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) with NREM sleep parasomnia in the same patient. Sexual behaviors during sleep (SBS) can include most wakeful sexual activities and are classified in the ICSD-2 as a variant of confusional arousals and sleepwalking, both NREM parasomnias. A case of SBS associated with sleepwalking and possible RBD has been previously described, but it was not confirmed by polysomnography (PSG). We report two patients with SBS associated with POD documented by PSG. In one patient (60-year-old female) SBS was video-polysomnographically demonstrated: a few minute episode of masturbation occurring during slow-wave sleep (SWS) and preceded by hypersynchronous delta pattern. During the episode, the EEG pattern showed the persistence of delta rhythms with increasing alpha activity. When awoken by technicians, the patient was not aware of her sexual behavior and did not report any

Children with Down syndrome (DS) commonly have obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and may assume a unique sleeping position not systematically described previously. We describe this sleep position in DS and explore its relationship with OSAS in comparison to control children (CC).|Overnight video-polysomnograms (PSG) of consecutive children with DS (age 2-18 y), referred to our center between April 2008 and October 2009, were retrospectively analyzed by a single scorer (ES). CC group comprised age and gender matched, non-syndromic, neurologically intact children referred to us for suspected OSAS over the same period.|Each group had 17 subjects matched for age (median [IQR]; 6 [4-8]) and gender (65% female). DS group had higher BMI (median [IQR]; 18.8 [17.4-21.0]) than CC (17 [14.7 -18.8]; p = 0.03). There were however no significant differences (median [IQR]) between DS and CC with respect to sleep time in minutes (460 [425-499] vs 424[410-483]), sleep efficiency (%) (90.9

A 40-year-old woman with no prior parasomnia developed an acute inflammatory rhombencephalitis with multiple cranial nerve palsies and cerebellar ataxia, followed by myelitis 6 months later, and by an intracranial thrombophlebitis 1 month after. Between and after these episodes, she had a persistent, mild right internuclear ophtalmoplegia, a mild cerebellar ataxia, and a severe REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) lasting for 2 years. She talked, sang and moved nightly while asleep, and injured her son (cosleeping with her) while asleep. In addition, she walked asleep nightly. During video-polysomnography, there were two arousals during slow wave sleep without abnormal behavior, while 44% of REM sleep was without chin muscle atonia with bilateral arm and leg movements. There were small hypointensities in the right pontine tegmentum and in the right dorsal medulla on T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, suggesting post-inflammatory lesions that persisted between acute episodes. The RBD