Search

Insomnia sufferers (INS) are cortically hyperaroused during sleep, which seems to translate into altered information processing during nighttime. While information processing, as measured by event-related potentials (ERPs), during wake appears to be associated with sleep quality of the preceding night, the existence of such an association during nighttime has never been investigated. This study aims to investigate nighttime information processing among good sleepers (GS) and INS while considering concomitant sleep quality. Following a multistep clinical evaluation, INS and GS participants underwent 4 consecutive nights of PSG recordings in the sleep laboratory. Thirty nine GS (mean age 34.56 ± 9.02) and twenty nine INS (mean age 43.03 ± 9.12) were included in the study. ERPs (N1, P2, N350) were recorded all night on Night 4 (oddball paradigm) during NREM sleep. Regardless of sleep quality, INS presented a larger N350 amplitude during SWS ( p = 0.042) while GS showed a larger N350 amplitude during late-night stage 2 sleep ( p = 0.004). Regardless of diagnosis, those who slept objectively well showed a smaller N350 amplitude ( p = 0.020) while those who slept subjectively well showed a smaller P2 ( p < 0.001) and N350 amplitude ( p = 0.006). Also, those who reported an objectively bad night as good showed smaller P2 ( p < 0.001) and N350 ( p = 0.010) amplitudes. Information processing seems to be associated with concomitant subjective and objective sleep quality for both GS and INS. However, INS show an alteration in information processing during sleep, especially for inhibition processes, regardless of their sleep quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly one-third of the population reports new onset or acute insomnia in a given year. Similarly, it is estimated that approximately 10% of the population endorses sleep initiation and maintenance problems consistent with diagnostic criteria for chronic insomnia. For decades, acute and chronic insomnia have been considered variations of the same condition or disorder, only really differentiated in terms of chronicity of symptoms (days/weeks versus months). Whether or not acute and chronic insomnia are part of the same phenomena is an important question, one that has yet to be empirically evaluated. The goal of the present theoretical review was to summarize the definitions of acute and chronic insomnia and discuss the role that hyperarousal may have in explaining how the pathophysiology of acute and chronic insomnia is likely different (i.e., what biopsychological factors precipitate and/or perpetuate acute insomnia, chronic insomnia, or both?). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: The dream activity of patients with primary insomnia (PI) has rarely been studied, especially using in-laboratory dream collection, although dreams could be linked to their state of hyperarousal and their negative waking experiences. The objective of the study was to compare patients with PI and good sleeper controls (GSCs) in terms of dream recall frequency and dream content.Patients/methods: Polysomnography was recorded in 12 patients with PI and 12 GSCs (aged between 30 and 45 years) for five consecutive nights. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep awakenings were enforced on nights 3 and 5 for dream collections.Results: The REM dream collections revealed that the groups were similar in terms of dream recall frequency (p ≤ 0.7). With respect to dream content variables, the dreams of GSCs tended to comprise more positive emotions (p = 0.06), whereas the dreams of patients with PI were characterized by more negative elements than positive ones (p = 0.001). Subjectively, GSCs characterized their dreams as being more pleasant and containing more joy, happiness, and vividness (p ≤ 0.03) than patients with PI. Finally, elevated negative dream content was associated with lower sleep efficiencies in insomnia (p = 0.004).Conclusion: These results suggest that less positive emotions and greater negative content characterize the dreams of patients with PI, which is in line with their waking experiences. One potential explanation could be hyperarousal exacerbating presleep negative mentation, thus contributing to poorer sleep quality. The lack of difference in dream recall frequency is most likely due to the forced awakening "dream collection" procedure. The study of dream activity seems a promising avenue for understanding the 24-h experience of insomnia better and exploring the potential benefits of dream management techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study objectives The objective was to study REM sleep macrostructure and microstructure as potential indicators of hyperarousal in insomnia by comparing good sleepers (GS) and insomnia sufferers (INS) (subdivided into psychophysiological “PSY-I” and paradoxical “PARA-I”). Design Cross-sectional comparisons of GS, PSY-I and PARA-I. Setting Participants slept for 4 consecutive nights in the laboratory where PSG was recorded. Nights 2 and 3 were combined to compare REM sleep between groups. Participants Thirty-nine PSY-I, 27 PARA-I and 47 GS completed the study, comprising home questionnaires, clinical interviews and night PSG recordings. All participants were aged between 25 and 55 and met inclusion criteria for either PSY-I, PARA-I or GS. Interventions N/A. Measurements and results Results showed no between group differences on REM sleep macrostructure. As for REM sleep microstructure, PSY-I had an increased number of wake intrusions compared to PARA-I (p = .03). Subjective SE, TST and TWT were significantly correlated with the duration of REM sleep (REMD; p ≤ .002) and with the proportion of REM sleep for PARA-I (p ≤ .06). Conclusions REM sleep macrostructure does not seem to be an adequate indicator of hyperarousal in insomnia. However, the number of wake intrusions in REM could be used to differentiate PSY-I from PARA-I and could reflect the heightened arousal of the former group. Relationships between REM sleep duration and proportion could be linked to dream imagery activity, especially in PARA-I. Further investigations are needed to identify variables that could reflect hyperarousal and differentiate insomnia types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]