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Somnambulism, or sleepwalking, is a parasomnia of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep where movement behaviours usually confined to wakefulness are displayed during sleep. Generally, if sleepwalking is causing distress or danger in spite of safety measures, medical or psychological treatment is indicated. Clinicians will need to assess the evidence for treatment options. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and the Ovid Evidence–Based Medicine Reviews (EBM) multifile databases were searched. No properly powered rigorous controlled trials were found for treatment of sleepwalking in adults. Seven reports described small trials with some kind of control arm, or retrospective case series which included 30 or more patients. With no high quality evidence to underpin recommendations for treatments of somnambulism, full discussion with patients is advised. Adequately powered, well-designed clinical trials are now needed, and multi-centre collaborations may be required to obtain the sample sizes required.

Objective: Restless legs syndrome, now called Willis-Ekbom Disease (RLS/WED), is a sensorimotorrelated sleep disorder. Little is known of the effect of RLS/WED on motor function. The current study investigated upper limb function in RLS/WED patients. We hypothesised that RLS/WED patients exhibit subtle changes in tremor amplitude but normal dexterity and movement speed and rhythmicity compared to healthy controls. Conclusions: Hand function, tremor, and task learning were unaffected in RLS/WED patients. Patients manipulated objects in a normal manner and exhibited normal movement speed, rhythmicity, and tremor. Methods: RLS/WED patients (n = 17, 59 ± 7 years) with moderate disease and healthy controls (n = 17, 58 ± 6 years) completed screening tests and five tasks including object manipulation, maximal pinch grip, flexion and extension of the index finger (tremor assessment), maximal finger tapping (movement speed and rhythmicity assessment), and the grooved pegboard test. Force, acceleration, and/or first dorsal interosseus EMG were recorded during four of the tasks. Results: Task performance did not differ between groups. Learning was evident on tasks with repeated trials and the magnitude of learning did not differ between groups. Significance: Further research is needed to assess other types of movement in RLS/WED patients to gain insight into the motor circuitry affected and the underlying pathophysiology. Refereed/Peer-reviewed