Neuroscience research
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Neuroscience research · Dec 2000
Is narcolepsy a REM sleep disorder? Analysis of sleep abnormalities in narcoleptic Dobermans.
Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder marked by excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations. Since the discovery of sleep onset REM periods (SOREMPs) in narcoleptic patients, narcolepsy has often been regarded as a disorder of REM sleep generation: REM sleep intrudes in active wake or at sleep onset, resulting in cataplexy, sleep paralysis, or hypnagogic hallucinations. However, this hypothesis has not been experimentally verified. ⋯ Stimulation of a cholinoceptive site in the basal forebrain induces a long-lasting attack of cataplexy in narcoleptic dogs; however, bursts of rapid eye movements during this state still occur with a 30 min cyclicity. Sites and mechanisms for triggering cataplexy may therefore be different from those for REM sleep. Cataplexy and a dysfunction in the maintenance of vigilance states, but not abnormal REM sleep generation, may therefore be central to narcolepsy.