1. Advanced vs. normal sleep timing: effects on depressed mood after response to sleep deprivation in patients with a major depressive disorder
- Author
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Dieter Riemann, A. König, Mathias Berger, Beate Schwarz, Ulrich Voderholzer, Fritz Hohagen, and Joachim Gomille
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Bipolar Disorder ,Personality Inventory ,Polysomnography ,Non-rapid eye movement sleep ,Sleep debt ,Recurrence ,medicine ,Humans ,Aged ,Slow-wave sleep ,Depressive Disorder ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Sleep in non-human animals ,Circadian Rhythm ,Nap ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Clinical Psychology ,Sleep deprivation ,Treatment Outcome ,Anesthesia ,Sleep Deprivation ,Major depressive disorder ,Female ,Sleep Stages ,medicine.symptom ,Arousal ,Psychology - Abstract
Total sleep deprivation (TSD) exerts beneficial but only transient effects on mood in patients with a major depressive disorder (MDD). Though approximately 50 to 70% of depressed patients improve after sleep deprivation, the majority relapse after recovery sleep, some even after a short nap. One theoretical model postulates a critical period in the early morning hours where sleep is likely to induce a relapse, and nap studies indicate that sleep may be particularly 'depressogenic' at this time of day. A second model attributes the relapse to the release of non-REM sleep. We therefore compared the impact of an advanced sleep period (17:00-24:00 h) to a normal sleep period (23:00-06:00 h) on mood in patients who had responded to sleep deprivation. Less relapses into depression occurred after advanced sleep. Polysomnographic data showed that, as expected, normal sleep was characterized by a more pronounced improvement of sleep continuity and increased slow-wave sleep. The normal sleep group showed a stronger decrease in REM sleep density than the advanced sleep group compared with baseline. These data add to a growing body of evidence that the timing of sleep following successful sleep deprivation may be crucial for a stabilization of its antidepressant effect. Thus, avoidance of sleep during a "critical period' for more than a single night is necessary to provide a longer-lasting treatment modality.
- Published
- 1996