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Copyright of Somnologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Couples sleeping in pairs is a modern phenomenon with potential side-effects on sleep structure and circadian rhythms. In order to examine its effects, 10 healthy heterosexual couples with stable relationships who regularly sleep apart or together in their home environments were recruited. The participants were asked to spend at least 10 nights alone and 10 nights together over the course of the study. Their sleep was monitored over 28 days in their homes with actigraphic techniques and sleep diaries. Group analyses were performed on their sleep efficiency and subjective sleep quality according to sleep condition. The daily variations in sleep fragmentation indices of the partners were used as a measure of their nocturnal activity synchronization. Sharing a sleeping space with a partner had negative effects on sleep in women, as documented in the actigraphic measurements of sleep efficiency and subjective assessments of sleep and awakening quality. Sexual contact mitigated the negative subjective report, without changing the objective results. Subjective assessments of sleep quality were lower in men than women when sleeping alone. They increased to the same level as women while sleeping in pairs with or without sexual contact. The sleep efficiency in men was not reduced by the presence of their partner unless sexual contact occurred. Analyses of sleep fragmentation showed that there was no synchronization of deviation from the norm levels between the partners on individual nights either when they slept alone or in couples. The sex differences in the nocturnal sleep reactions to partner presence may be attributed to sex-specific behavioral traits associated with cultural norms or parenting in women and the desire for group sleep in men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to examine potential trigger factors of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) in clinic patients and in subjects from the population and to compare the patients’ personal experience with their theoretical knowledge. A cross-sectional study was carried out in a headache centre. There were 120 subjects comprising 66 patients with migraine and 22 with TTH from a headache outpatient clinic and 32 persons with headache (migraine or TTH) from the population. A semistructured interview covering biographic data, lifestyle, medical history, headache characteristics and 25 potential trigger factors differentiating between the patients’ personal experience and their theoretical knowledge was used. The most common trigger factors experienced by the patients were weather (82.5%), stress (66.7%), menstruation (51.4%) and relaxation after stress (50%). The vast majority of triggers occurred occasionally and not consistently. The patients experienced 8.9±4.3 trigger factors (range 0–20) and they knew 13.2±6.0 (range 1–27). The number of experienced triggers was smallest in the population group ( p=0.002), whereas the number of triggers known did not differ in the three study groups. Comparing theoretical knowledge with personal experience showed the largest differences for oral contraceptives (65.0 vs. 14.7%, p<0.001), chocolate (61.7 vs. 14.3%, p>0.001) and cheese (52.5 vs. 8.4%, p<0.001). In conclusion, almost all trigger factors are experienced occasionally and not consistently by the majority of patients. Subjects from the population experience trigger factors less often than clinic patients. The difference between theoretical knowledge and personal experience is largest for oral contraceptives, chocolate and cheese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Subjective sleep perception, as measured against objective parameters such as those obtained by polysomnography, have not been examined thoroughly to date. Little is known about subjective sleep perception in patients with chronic somatic diseases. Patients and methods Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy elderly controls filled in a sleep log over 14 days, which included a self-rating questionnaire concerning sleep and quality of time awake, sleep times and somatic complaints. All participants underwent polysomnography in the sleep lab on nights 7 and 8, and slept all other nights at home. Results Seventeen patients with PD (64±6 years, 6 female, Hoehn and Yahr median=2), and 62 healthy controls of the same age without sleep disturbances (64±8 years, 36 female) were included. Patients with PD showed reduced subjective sleep (p=0.001) and quality of time awake (p=0.02), decreased sleep duration (p=0.01) and reduced sleep efficiency (p=0.004) compared with the controls. Subjective sleep efficiency at home was no different from that in the sleep lab for both groups. Patients with PD reported more somatic complaints (p=0.001) than controls but did not show a first-night effect. Conclusion In summary, patients with PD have subjectively and objectively disturbed sleep as compared to healthy controls of the same age. However, they may not rate this poor sleep as much changed from their baseline sleep at home, and they have more somatic complaints. Increasing sleep efficiency might be of importance in PD patients, as it shows an association with subjective quality of time awake in the morning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of EEG mapping as an objective and quantitative measure of vigilance in untreated and modafinil-treated narcoleptics, and compare it with the conventional neurophysiological method of the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) and the subjective Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). In 16 drug-free narcoleptics and 16 normal controls a baseline 3-min vigilance-controlled EEG (V-EEG) and a 4-min resting EEG (R-EEG) were recorded during midmorning hours. Thereafter, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, patients were treated with a 3-week fixed titration of modafinil (200, 300, 400 mg) and placebo. EEG-mapping, MSLT and ESS measures were obtained before and at the end of the third week of therapy. Statistical overall analysis by means of the omnibus significance test demonstrated significant EEG differences between untreated patients and controls in the resting condition only (R-EEG). Subsequent univariate analysis revealed an increase in absolute and relative theta power, a decrease in alpha-2 and beta power as well as a slowing of the dominant frequency and the centroids of the alpha, beta and total power spectrum and thus objectified a vigilance decrement in narcolepsy. Modafinil 400 mg/d significantly improved vigilance as compared with placebo (p = 0.01), inducing changes opposite to the aforementioned baseline differences (key-lock principle). The MSLT and the ESS also improved under modafinil as compared with placebo, but changes were less consistent. Spearman rank correlations revealed the highest correlations between EEG mapping and the ESS, followed by those between EEG mapping and the MSLT, while the lowest correlation was found between the MSLT and the ESS. In conclusion, EEG mapping is a valuable instrument for measuring vigilance decrements in narcolepsy and their improvement under psychostimulant treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Somnologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectives Along with spindles, K-complexes are well known hallmarks of stage 2 (S2) sleep. However, little is known about their quantity in S2 sleep of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Setting Sleep laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of Vienna, Austria. Patients and methods Whole-night polysomnography (PSG) was performed in twelve treated PD patients and ten healthy controls without history of sleep complaints. The quantity of spontaneous K-complexes, K-alpha-complexes, and sleep spindles in one hour S2 sleep, distributed in four epochs of 15 minutes all through the night, were visually selected and analysed. The quantity and the temporal course of these phasic events were compared with the quantity in age-matched healthy controls. Nine of the twelve PD patients underwent [123I]Β-CIT SPECT for calculating dopamine transporter binding in the striatum and serotonin transporter density in the thalamus-hypothalamus region. Results There was no difference between the quantity of K-complexes, K-alpha-complexes, and sleep spindles in PD patients and in the healthy control group. K-complexes but not sleep spindles decreased over the night in both groups. The number of sleep spindles did not correlate with the dopamine transporter binding in the striatum or the serotonin binding in the thalamic/hypothalamic region. Conclusion K-complexes and sleep spindles are not reduced and do not seem to be related to the degree of dopaminergic degeneration in treated PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a movement and sleep disorder with leg dysesthesias with a high prevalence (9–18% in Austria). Aim of the study: Determination of frequency, diagnosis and therapy of RLS in general practitioner and specialist offices. Methods: Telephone survey of a random sample of 120 general practitioners, 100 neurologists and 80 specialists in internal medicine. Results: 69% of the whole sample of doctors reported seeing 1 to 10 RLS patients, but in proportion to the prevalence of these two conditions fewer cases of RLS than of Parkinson's disease are treated. In all three groups of doctors, 84% consider the 4 key symptoms (urge to move the legs accompanied or caused by dysesthesia; worsening of symptoms at rest or inactivity; relief by activity; worsening of symptoms in the evening/at night) the most important diagnostic criteria for RLS, followed by a complaint of disturbed sleep (75%), daytime tiredness (43%) and dopaminergic responsiveness in a therapeutic trial (29%). 83% of general practitioners and 86% of medical specialists refer their RLS patients to a neurologist, 19% to a polysomnographic examination. 75% of doctors decide for pharmacological treatment of RLS, 18% for psychotherapy, 15% for household remedies. 54% of all doctors (70% of the neurologists, 68% of the GPs, 48% of the medical specialists) prescribe dopamine agonists. L-Dopa is used by 49% (61% of the neurologists, 42% of the GPs, 44% of the medical specialists). 17% prescribe GABAergic drugs, 6% opiates. 51% would be highly interested in obtaining a drug specifically registered for the treatment of RLS. Conclusion: RLS is not as well known as Parkinson's disease. Thus providing doctors with relevant information and further education programs on this subject seems desirable. In Austrian doctors' offices the diagnosis of RLS is usually obtained clinically on the basis of the 4 key symptoms. Patients suffering from insomnia of multifactorial pathogenesis should be referred to an outpatient clinic for sleep disorders with an associated sleep laboratory. Especially neurologists and GPs consider dopamine agonists the treatment of first choice, closely followed by L-Dopa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Presents a letter to the editor describing incidence of abnormal cutaneous thermal thresholds in patients with restless legs syndrome.

We used single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to study striatal [123I]β-CIT binding and polysomnography to study periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS) in eleven patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). The reduced striatal [123I]β-CIT binding was significantly correlated with the number of PLMS. We propose that striatal dopaminergic nerve cell loss is involved in the increased number of PLMS in PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Together with spindles, K-complexes are well known hallmarks of stage 2 sleep (S2). However, little is known about their topographical distribution in comparison to delta-waves and to K-complexes superimposed by spindles. Patients and methods: In this study, the topographical distribution of spontaneous K-complexes and delta-waves in S2 and delta-waves in stage 4 sleep (S4) in 10 healthy young adults (aged 20 to 35 years, 7 female) was investigated. K-complexes with and without spindles in S2, delta-waves with and without spindles in S2, and delta-waves in S4 distributed all over the night were visually selected. EEG power maps and statistical parametric maps were calculated. Results: Absolute delta power of S2 K-complexes appeared to be significantly higher than of S2 delta-waves and delta power of S4 delta-waves was higher than of S2 delta-waves. In K-complexes and delta-waves, power was found to be highest over medio-frontal regions in the delta frequency band (0.5 - 4.0 Hz) with a second maximum occipitally in delta-waves, no matter whether superimposed by a spindle or not. Conclusion: K-complexes and delta-waves in S2 differ in topographical distribution. Even though in S2 delta-waves have less power, they have a similar topographical distribution in S2 and S4, supporting the hypothesis that delta-waves in S2 further develop towards delta-waves in slow wave sleep. The delta frequency components of K-complexes and delta-waves are unaffected by spindles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the role of sleep in memory consolidation. Involvement of the hippocampal formation in memory consolidation during sleep; Electroencephalography studies during sleep; Experience-dependent changes in cerebral activation during human rapid eye movement sleep.

Presents a study that examined the involvement of the central nervous system (CRS) in myasthenia gravis (MG). Background on the disease; Possible mechanisms of CRS involvement in the disease; Benefits of a polysomnographic investigation for the detection of sleep-related breathing disorder in patients with (MG).

Presents a letter to the editor concerning treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness in Parkinson's disease with modafinil.