Slow wave activity and slow oscillations in sleepwalkers and controls: effects of 38 h of sleep deprivation.

Sleepwalkers have been shown to have an unusually high number of arousals from slow wave sleep and lower slow wave activity (SWA) power during the night than controls. Because sleep deprivation increases the frequency of slow wave sleep (SWS) arousals in sleepwalkers, it may also affect the expression of the homeostatic process to a greater extent than shown previously. We thus investigated SWA power as well as slow wave oscillation (SWO) density in 10 sleepwalkers and nine controls at baseline and following 38 h of sleep deprivation. There was a significant increase in SWA during participants' recovery sleep, especially during their second non-rapid eye movement (NREM) period. SWO density was similarly increased during recovery sleep's first two NREM periods. A fronto-central gradient in SWA and SWO was also present on both nights. However, no group differences were noted on any of the 2 nights on SWA or SWO. This unexpected result may be related to the heterogeneity of sleepwalkers as a population, as well as our small sample size. SWA pressure after extended sleep deprivation may also result in a ceiling effect in both sleepwalkers and controls.

Electroencephalographic slow waves prior to sleepwalking episodes.

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have suggested that the onset of sleepwalking episodes may be preceded by fluctuations in slow-wave sleep electroencephalographic characteristics. However, whether or not such fluctuations are specific to sleepwalking episodes or generalized to all sleep-wake transitions in sleepwalkers remains unknown. The goal of this study was to compare spectral power for delta (1-4 Hz) and slow delta (0.5-1 Hz) as well as slow oscillation density before the onset of somnambulistic episodes versus non-behavioral awakenings recorded from the same group of sleepwalkers. A secondary aim was to describe the time course of observed changes in slow-wave activity and slow oscillations during the 3 min immediately preceding the occurrence of somnambulistic episodes. METHODS: Twelve adult sleepwalkers were investigated polysomnographically during the course of one night. RESULTS: Slow-wave activity and slow oscillation density were significantly greater prior to patients' somnambulistic episodes as compared with non-behavioral awakenings. However, there was no evidence for a gradual increase over the 3 min preceding the episodes. CONCLUSIONS: Increased slow-wave activity and slow oscillation density appear to be specific to sleepwalking episodes rather than generalized to all sleep-wake transitions in sleepwalkers.