Is there a common motor dysregulation in sleepwalking and REM sleep behaviour disorder?

This study sought to determine if there is any overlap between the two major non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement parasomnias, i.e. sleepwalking/sleep terrors and rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder. We assessed adult patients with sleepwalking/sleep terrors using rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder screening questionnaires and determined if they had enhanced muscle tone during rapid eye movement sleep. Conversely, we assessed rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder patients using the Paris Arousal Disorders Severity Scale and determined if they had more N3 awakenings. The 251 participants included 64 patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (29 with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder and 35 with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder associated with Parkinson's disease), 62 patients with sleepwalking/sleep terrors, 66 old healthy controls (age-matched with the rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder group) and 59 young healthy controls (age-matched with the sleepwalking/sleep terrors group). They completed the rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder screening questionnaire, rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder single question and Paris Arousal Disorders Severity Scale. In addition, all the participants underwent a video-polysomnography. The sleepwalking/sleep terrors patients scored positive on rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder scales and had a higher percentage of 'any' phasic rapid eye movement sleep without atonia when compared with controls; however, these patients did not have higher tonic rapid eye movement sleep without atonia or complex behaviours during rapid eye movement sleep. Patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder had moderately elevated scores on the Paris Arousal Disorders Severity Scale but did not exhibit more N3 arousals (suggestive of non-rapid eye movement parasomnia) than the control group. These results indicate that dream-enacting behaviours (assessed by rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder screening questionnaires) are commonly reported by sleepwalking/sleep terrors patients, thus decreasing the questionnaire's specificity. Furthermore, sleepwalking/sleep terrors patients have excessive twitching during rapid eye movement sleep, which may result either from a higher dreaming activity in rapid eye movement sleep or from a more generalised non-rapid eye movement/rapid eye movement motor dyscontrol during sleep.

Assessment and treatment of sleepwalking in clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: Sleepwalking is a relatively common and innocuous arousal disorder during non­rapid eye movement sleep. OBJECTIVE: This paper provides a review of the most recent science on sleepwalking to guide clinical decision-making. DISCUSSION: Most patients who sleepwalk do not require treatment, but comorbid sleep disorders that result in daytime tiredness, and behaviour and emotional problems require assessment and interventions. In the absence of clinical trials, tentative, low-risk treatments - scheduled waking and hypnosis - are suggested for sleepwalking that results in distress or violence towards others. People who sleepwalk and are violent may benefit from impulse-control interventions.

Sleep deprivation impairs inhibitory control during wakefulness in adult sleepwalkers.

Sleepwalkers often complain of excessive daytime somnolence. Although excessive daytime somnolence has been associated with cognitive impairment in several sleep disorders, very few data exist concerning sleepwalking. This study aimed to investigate daytime cognitive functioning in adults diagnosed with idiopathic sleepwalking. Fifteen sleepwalkers and 15 matched controls were administered the Continuous Performance Test and Stroop Colour-Word Test in the morning after an overnight polysomnographic assessment. Participants were tested a week later on the same neuropsychological battery, but after 25 h of sleep deprivation, a procedure known to precipitate sleepwalking episodes during subsequent recovery sleep. There were no significant differences between sleepwalkers and controls on any of the cognitive tests administered under normal waking conditions. Testing following sleep deprivation revealed significant impairment in sleepwalkers' executive functions related to inhibitory control, as they made more errors than controls on the Stroop Colour-Word Test and more commission errors on the Continuous Performance Test. Sleepwalkers' scores on measures of executive functions were not associated with self-reported sleepiness or indices of sleep fragmentation from baseline polysomnographic recordings. The results support the idea that sleepwalking involves daytime consequences and suggest that these may also include cognitive impairments in the form of disrupted inhibitory control following sleep deprivation. These disruptions may represent a daytime expression of sleepwalking's pathophysiological mechanisms.

Biperiden for treatment of somnambulism in adolescents and adults with or without epilepsy: clinical observations.

BACKGROUND: Sleepwalking in adolescents and adults may lead to serious injuries and require treatment. Anecdotal treatment recommendations include benzodiazepines (which also work in focal seizures of the frontal lobe that are an important differential diagnosis), imipramine and amitriptyline. METHODS: We assessed in a follow-up study of 4 years (medium, range: 2-7 years) the usefulness of the antiparkinsonian drug biperiden (Akineton©), an acetylcholine antagonist with high affinity for muscarinic M1-type receptors, in four consecutive cases of arousal disorder with sleepwalking and confusional behavior in adolescents and adults with or without epilepsy who did not respond to diazepam, clonazepam or amitriptyline. FINDINGS: The adjunctive use of biperiden was associated with reduction or remission of sleepwalking episodes in four consecutive treatment-refractory cases of arousal disorder with sleepwalking and confusional behavior. In contrast, biperiden showed no effect in a patient with REM behavioral disorder. INTERPRETATION: Although our observations do not and cannot establish the efficacy or safety of biperiden, it may be useful to consider biperiden for treatment of sleepwalking, if needed. A putative cholinergic mechanism of arousal disorders, including sleepwalking, provides a reasonable hypothesis why the anticholinergic agent biperiden might work. Evidence for efficacy and safety from randomized controlled trials is needed to confirm our preliminary observations.

Sleepwalking in psychiatric patients: comparison of childhood and adult onset.

OBJECTIVES: In contrast to the 'benign and self-limiting nature' of childhood sleepwalking, some population and case studies have suggested that adult sleepwalking is more likely to be associated with psychopathology and psychotropic medications. There is a paucity, however, of systematic study in adult psychiatric populations, and the aim of the present study was therefore to compare the impact of psychopathology and medication usage on sleepwalking with reference to age of onset. METHODS: Clinical characteristics, sleep symptoms, psychiatric diagnosis and psychotropic usage in 66 childhood- and adult-onset sleepwalkers as identified from a psychiatric clinic, were studied. RESULTS: There was a higher proportion of adult-onset sleepwalking in the psychiatric population. In comparison with childhood-onset sleepwalkers, adult-onset sleepwalkers had higher peak frequency of attacks and a high comorbidity with sleep-related eating features. Factors including frequent insomnia (odds ratio (OR) = 5.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.58-18.40, p = 0.007) and lifetime usage of regular zolpidem (OR = 5.58, 95%CI = 1.65-18.84, p < 0.006) were associated with a higher risk of adult-onset sleepwalking. CONCLUSIONS: Adult-onset sleepwalking in a psychiatric sample has unique clinical characteristics and specific risk factors. These patients were more likely to present with sleep-related eating features, comorbid insomnia, had and lifetime usage of non-benzodiazepine hypnotics, especially zolpidem. A heightened awareness of the presence of sleepwalking and their associated risk factors among the adult psychiatric population is needed.

Sleepwalking in patients with Parkinson disease.

OBJECTIVE: To report the occurrence of adult-onset (de novo) sleepwalking in a series of 6 patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD). DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: Outpatient clinic for movement disorders. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of 165 consecutive patients with PD seen for 2 years, 6 patients with adult-onset sleepwalking were identified. These patients underwent a systematic clinical assessment of their extrapyramidal and sleep problems, which included standard questionnaires, clinical examination, and estimation of PD severity (motor score of the Unified PD Rating Scale and Hoehn and Yahr stage). Five of 6 patients had a video-polysomnography recording that was scored according to international criteria. RESULTS: Patients included 3 women and 3 men with a mean (+/-SD) age of 66 +/- 12 years (range, 46-78 years). The mean (+/-SD) Unified PD Rating Scale score was 25 +/- 9 (range, 10-35) and the mean (+/-SD) Hoehn and Yahr stage was 2.5 +/- 1.0 (range, 1.0-4.0). Medications in these patients included levodopa (n = 6), dopamine agonists (n = 4), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants (n = 3), and hypnotics (n = 3). All patients had at least 1 concomitant sleep-wake disorder, including rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (n = 4) and insomnia (n = 4). In 2 of 6 patients, the latency between onset of PD and appearance of sleepwalking was more than 4 years. CONCLUSION: Neurodegenerative changes associated with PD at the brainstem level can affect the "ascending" control of state transition (leading to dissociated arousals from non-rapid eye movement and/or rapid eye movement sleep) and the "descending" control of locomotion and muscle tone, together giving rise to various sleep-associated behavioral disturbances including sleepwalking, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, and overlap parasomnia.

[Life-threatening sleepwalking (Elpenor's syndrome) in a 10-year-old child]. / Somnambulisme avec mise en danger vital (syndrome d'Elpénor) chez un enfant.

Though benign in the majority of cases, sleepwalking sometimes causes injuries due, among other causes, to falls. Such accidents can be life-threatening - a situation that has been termed Elpenor syndrome (in reference to an accident experienced by a character in Homer's epic The Odyssey) - in particular when entailing defenestration. This syndrome has been described in adults and adolescents; we report here a case in a child. OBSERVATION: This 10-year-old girl was admitted at night to our hospital after a 3-m fall at home. She was alert (Glasgow score, 15) at admission; a frontal wound and a deformation of the right wrist were noted. Brain CT scans showed a frontal skull fracture and frontal lobe contusion, wrist x-rays showed a displaced right fracture. The patient underwent urgent neurosurgery (wound excision and suture after reduction of skull fracture) and closed reduction and immobilization of the wrist fracture, both under general anesthesia. She underwent a psychiatric assessment in the intensive care unit 3 days after her fall. She was alert, well-oriented in time and space, and spoke fluently. She had no memory of her fall, only remembering going to bed in the evening before the accident and waking up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. She displayed no sign of a concurrent mental illness and no suicidal ideas. Her parents reported that the evening of the accident she and her two brothers had all fallen asleep about 11:00 pm while watching TV, in the double bed of the guest room, placed just beside its window. At approximately 1:00 am, her father, who was going to bed and had just made noise in the hall, heard a cry from the guest room. He entered the room immediately and saw the opened window and his daughter lying on the outside ground; the brothers only awakened after the fall. The family had returned 2 days before from a 6-month stay in the United States, with jet-lag, sleep deprivation, and a disorganized sleep/wake rhythm in the patient. There was no medication before the accident, no substance use (including caffeine), and no concurrent medical problem. Over the 2 preceding years, the patient had undergone two witnessed episodes of early-nighttime arousal with altered consciousness and calm wandering (including going downstairs on one occasion), both strongly suggesting sleepwalking. There was a history of sleepwalking in her father and her older brother. Life-threatening sleepwalking (Elpenor syndrome) was diagnosed. The child and her parents were educated about sleepwalking; regularization of sleep schedules and sleep extension (avoidance of sleep deprivation, short napping when possible) were prescribed. We also recommended securing the home (bed, windows, and stairways). No pharmacological treatment was instituted. During the following 18 months, the child manifested only one noted sleepwalking episode, without risk-taking. She had no neurological or psychopathological sequela from her accident, of which she never had a memory. CONCLUSION: Elpenor syndrome can occur in a child; consequently, it is important to inform parents of children with sleepwalking about the necessity of always securing the night-time environment.

Parasomnia Overlap Disorder with Sexual Behaviors during Sleep in a Patient with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

ABSTRACT: Sleep-related abnormal sexual behaviors (sexsomnia) are classified as a subtype of NREM sleep parasomnias. Sexsomnia has been reported as part of parasomnia overlap disorder (POD) in two other patients. We present the case of a 42-year-old male patient with video-polysomnography (vPSG) documented POD. The patient had sleepwalking, sleep-related eating, confusional arousals, sexsomnia, sleeptalking, and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). Confusional arousals and RBD were documented during the vPSG. This case had the added complexity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) playing a role in sleepwalking and sleep related eating, with good response to nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP). The sexsomnia did not respond to nCPAP but responded substantially to bedtime clonazepam therapy.

[Violent behavior during sleep]. / Violência durante o sono.

Cases of violent behavior during sleep have been reported in the literature. However, the incidence of violent behavior during sleep is not known. One epidemiological study showed that approximately 2% of the general population, predominantly males, presented violent behavior while asleep. In the present study, the authors describe clinical and medico-legal aspects involved in violent behavior investigation. Violent behavior refers to self-injury or injury to another during sleep. It happens most frequently following partial awakening in the context of arousal disorders (parasomnias). The most frequently diagnosed sleep disorders are REM behavior disorder and somnambulism. Violent behavior might be precipitated by stress, use of alcohol or drugs, sleep deprivation or fever.

[Somnambulism: clinical and eletrophysiological aspects]. / Az alvajárás klinikai es elektrofiziológiai jellemzói.

The authors review the literature on the epidemiology, the clinical and electrophysiological symptoms of somnambulism. The disorder specified as "nREM parasomnia with awakening disorder" belongs to the nREM sleep (awakening) parasomnias. In most of the cases its occurence is familial with the highest prevalence at age 12 year. Above age 12 year most cases recover whereas 6% of prevalence is reported in adults. It is probable that most patients seek medical help only in severe cases associated with injuries, accidents or violence. Its etiology is unknown; in essence it is a sleep regulation disorder characterised by a dissociated state of partial awakening from nREM sleep: the motor system becomes awake while consciousness remains clouded. There are several medicines inducing somnambulism in patients otherwise free from this disorder. In somnambule patients the most important provoking factors are sleep deprivation as well as pathological states and circumstances evoking sleep loss. Somnambulism should be differentiated from complex partial epileptic seizures and REM behaviour disorder. As there is no specific treatment at the moment it is important to assure safe sleeping circumstances - ground flour, closed windows, and no fragile furniture. Clonazepam and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors prove sometimes effective, but the most effective methods in decreasing the frequency of somnambule episodes are the regular sleep-wakefulness schedule and the avoidance of sleep deprivation.

Pain in Sleepwalking: A Clinical Enigma.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleepwalking is a disorder characterized by arousal specifically from slow wave sleep with dissociated brain activity that may be related to lower nociceptive state. Our objectives were to assess the frequency of chronic pain, headache, and migraine in sleepwalkers compared to controls, examine the impact and determinants of pain in sleepwalkers, and report analgesia frequency during injurious parasomnia episodes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional case-control study. SETTING: Data were collected at the Sleep Disorders Center, Montpellier, France. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred patients with sleepwalking were assessed for disease characteristics, sleep (polysomnography, sleepiness, and insomnia), pain (chronic pain, multidimensional pain inventory, headache, and migraine), depressive symptoms, and quality of life compared to 100 adult controls. Pain perception was retrospectively assessed during injurious parasomnia episodes. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Raw association data showed that lifetime headache, migraine, and chronic pain at time of study were significantly associated with sleepwalking (also called somnambulism). Compared to controls, sleepwalkers reported more frequent daytime sleepiness, and depressive and insomnia symptoms. After adjustments, sleepwalking was associated with increased risk for headache and migraine only. Compared to pain-free sleepwalkers, sleepwalkers with chronic pain were more likely to be older and to have greater daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and depressive symptoms, with no difference in polysomnography assessment. Of the 47 sleepwalkers with at least one previous violent parasomnia episode, 78.7% perceived no pain during episodes, allowing them to remain asleep despite injury. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the clinical enigma of pain in sleepwalking patients with complaints of frequent chronic pain, migraine, and headache during wakefulness but who report retrospectively experience of analgesia during severe parasomnia episodes, suggesting a relationship between dissociated brain activity and nociceptive dysregulation.

A polysomnographic and clinical report on sleep-related injury in 100 adult patients.

In 100 consecutive adults who came to a sleep disorders center complaining of repeated nocturnal injury, polysomnographic study identified five disorders: night terrors/sleepwalking (N = 54), REM sleep behavior disorder (N = 36), dissociative disorders (N = 7), nocturnal seizures (N = 2), and sleep apnea (N = 1). Ninety-five patients sustained ecchymoses, 30 had lacerations, and nine had fractures. DSM-III axis I disorders (past or current) were found in 48.1% of the group with night terrors/sleepwalking and in 30.6% of the group with REM sleep behavior disorder; these were mainly affective disorders. In these two groups, clonazepam controlled the symptoms of 51 of the 61 patients to whom it was given.

Childhood migraine and somnambulism.

Based on a sample of 222 children from four diagnostic groups, a high frequency of somnambulism in children suffering from migraine headache is reported. The strength of the association between somnambulism and childhood migraine raises the possibility that somnambulism might be considered as a minor diagnostic criterion in the clinical diagnosis of childhood migraine. This association may further clarify the nature of the serotonin abnormality underlying migraine.

Somnambulism in adults.

We evaluated with clinical interviews and polysomnographic examinations 10 adults with the complaint of sleepwalking, often accompanied by violent behavior or self-injury. During the polysomnographic studies, 8 patients had 47 distinct somnambulistic episodes. All episodes occurred in non-REM sleep, with 91% occurring in slow-wave sleep. Contrary to previous reports, episodes were not confined to the 1st 3rd of the night. Clinical EEGs were normal in 5 of 6 patients. In the 7 patients tried on 1 or more treatment regimens, clonazepam effectively suppressed the somnambulism in 5 of 6 patients in whom it was tried, carbamazepine in 1 of 3, flurazepam in 2 of 2, and a combination of clonazepam and phenytoin in one.

Epileptic nocturnal wanderings.

Video-polysomnographic monitoring in four patients complaining of stereotyped paroxysmal ambulation and other complex motor activities during sleep demonstrated ictal epileptic discharges at the onset of the sleepwalking episodes. In addition, all patients displayed minor motor episodes resembling short-lasting nocturnal paroxysmal dystonia (NPD) attacks and paroxysmal arousals (PAs). NPD with short-lasting attacks, PAs and episodic nocturnal wanderings represent the same epileptic syndrome with variable presentations.

Prolonged confusion with nocturnal wandering arising from NREM and REM sleep: a case report.

A 51-year-old man with Machado-Joseph disease had a 3-year history of prolonged confusion following nightly nocturnal wandering. Polysomnography with videotape monitoring revealed 19- to 120-minute sleepwalking episodes emerging from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and occasionally from rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, followed by 22-47 minutes of prolonged confusion and disorientation. The patient also had a periodic limb movement disorder and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Excessive daytime sleepiness was evident by results from the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Multiple Sleep Latency Test. A sleep-deprived electroencephalogram (EEG) and a polysomnogram with an expanded EEG montage before and during these episodes revealed no epileptiform activity. A contrast-enhanced brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan demonstrated findings consistent only with Machado-Joseph disease. The patient improved with a combination of temazepam and carbidopa-levodopa.

A polysomnographically documented case of adult somnambulism with long-distance automobile driving and frequent nocturnal violence: parasomnia with continuing danger as a noninsane automatism?

A case of childhood-onset somnambulism is reported in which a 43-year-old man presented with repeated sleep-related injuries incurred during violent nocturnal activity, which included frenzied running, throwing punches and wielding knives. He had also driven an automobile a long distance during a presumed somnambulistic state. His wife had been repeatedly injured, and she felt that her life was threatened by his nocturnal violence 2-3 times yearly. Polysomnography (PSG) documented multiple episodes of complex and violent behaviors arising exclusively from stage 3/4 sleep, thus confirming the diagnosis of somnambulism. Other causes of sleep-related violence were excluded. The patient responded promptly to treatment with bedtime clonazepam, and benefit was maintained at 5-year follow-up. Although this strictly clinical case did not have any legal repercussions, it does carry forensic implications, particularly when placed in the context of the published medical literature on PSG-documented parasomnias (somnambulism, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder) containing explicit examples of recurrent violence, at times life-threatening, directed toward the bed partner and others. Thus, a new medical-legal concept is proposed, consisting of "parasomnia with continuing danger" as a noninsane automatism. Treatment guidelines, within the context of forensic medicine, are presented.

Additional categories of sleep-related eating disorders and the current status of treatment.

Sleep-related eating disorders distinct from daytime eating disorders have recently been shown to be associated with sleepwalking (SW), periodic limb movement (PLM) disorder and triazolam abuse in a series of 19 adults. We now report eight other primary or combined etiologies identified by clinical evaluations and polysomnographic monitoring of 19 additional adults (mean age 40 years; 58% female): i) obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), with eating during apnea-induced confusional arousals (n = 3); ii) OSA-PLM disorder (n = 1); iii) familial SW and sleep-related eating (n = 2); iv) SW-PLM disorder (n = 1); v) SW-irregular sleep/wake pattern disorder (n = 1); vi) familial restless legs syndrome and sleep-related eating (n = 2); vii) anorexia nervosa with nocturnal bulimia (n = 2) and viii) amitriptyline treatment of migraines (n = 1). In our cumulative series of 38 patients (excluding six with simple obesity from daytime overeating), 44% were overweight (i.e. > 20% excess weight) from sleep-related eating. Nightly sleep-related binge eating (without hunger or purging) had occurred in 84% of patients. Onset of sleep-related eating was also closely linked with i) acute stress involving reality-based concerns about the safety of family members or about relationship problems (n = 6), ii) abstinence from alcohol and opiate/cocaine abuse (n = 2) and iii) cessation of cigarette smoking (n = 2). Current treatment data indicate a primary role of dopaminergic agents (carbidopa/L-dopa; bromocriptine), often combined with codeine and clonazepam, in controlling most cases involving SW and/or PLM disorder. Fluoxetine was effective in two of three patients. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure therapy controlled sleep-related eating in two OSA patients.

Treatment of coexistent night-terrors and somnambulism in adults with imipramine and diazepam.

Night-terrors and somnambulism are comparatively rare in adults and are most often associated with stage 4 sleep, especially delta activity. Although the data are limited, reports suggest that imipramine, which may control nocturnal enuresis, a stage 4 sleep disorder, and diazepam, which suppresses stage 4 sleep, may effectively treat the condition. This paper describes two patients with night-terrors and somnambulism who responded to imipramine but not to diazepam. Possible mechanisms of diazepam and imipramine, including effects on stage 4 sleep and pervasive anxiolytic actions, are discussed.