Sleep
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The aim of this study was to examine whether the subthalamic nucleus (STN) plays a role in the transmission of PGO-like waves during REM sleep in humans. ⋯ Subthalamic PGO-like waves can be recorded during pre-REM and REM sleep in humans. Our data suggest that the STN may play an active role in an ascending activating network implicated in the transmission of PGO waves during REM sleep in humans.
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The goal of the study was to seek physiological correlates of lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is a dissociated state with aspects of waking and dreaming combined in a way so as to suggest a specific alteration in brain physiology for which we now present preliminary but intriguing evidence. We show that the unusual combination of hallucinatory dream activity and wake-like reflective awareness and agentive control experienced in lucid dreams is paralleled by significant changes in electrophysiology. ⋯ Our data show that lucid dreaming constitutes a hybrid state of consciousness with definable and measurable differences from waking and from REM sleep, particularly in frontal areas.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Diclofenac potassium restores objective and subjective measures of sleep quality in women with primary dysmenorrhea.
Primary dysmenorrhea is a common gynecological disorder that disrupts daytime functioning and nighttime sleep quality. We determined the effectiveness of diclofenac potassium, compared to placebo, in alleviating nighttime pain and restoring sleep architecture in women with primary dysmenorrhea. ⋯ Diclofenac potassium effectively attenuates nighttime dysmenorrheic pain and restores subjective and objective measures of sleep quality to values recorded in a pain-free phase of the menstrual cycle.
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Past studies have shown that acute experimental reduction of time in bed in otherwise healthy, non-sleepy people leads to hyperalgesia. We hypothesized that otherwise healthy, sleepy people may also exhibit hyperalgesia relative to their non-sleepy counterparts. ⋯ This suggests that sleepy individuals experience hyperalgesia in response to a painful stimulus when compared with non-sleepy individuals.
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To aid in the identification of patients with moderate-to-severe sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), we developed and validated a simple screening tool applicable to both clinical and community settings. ⋯ These findings suggest that our screening scoring system is a valid tool for the identification and assessment of moderate-to-severe SDB. With knowledge of only 4 easily ascertainable variables, which are routinely checked during daily clinical practice or mass health screening, moderate-to-severe SDB can be easily detected in clinical and public health settings.