Awake or Sleeping? Maybe Both A Review of Sleep-Related Dissociative States.

Recent studies have begun to understand sleep not only as a whole-brain process but also as a complex local phenomenon controlled by specific neurotransmitters that act in different neural networks, which is called "local sleep". Moreover, the basic states of human consciousness-wakefulness, sleep onset (N1), light sleep (N2), deep sleep (N3), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep-can concurrently appear, which may result in different sleep-related dissociative states. In this article, we classify these sleep-related dissociative states into physiological, pathological, and altered states of consciousness. Physiological states are daydreaming, lucid dreaming, and false awakenings. Pathological states include sleep paralysis, sleepwalking, and REM sleep behavior disorder. Altered states are hypnosis, anesthesia, and psychedelics. We review the neurophysiology and phenomenology of these sleep-related dissociative states of consciousness and update them with recent studies. We conclude that these sleep-related dissociative states have a significant basic and clinical impact since their study contributes to the understanding of consciousness and the proper treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases.

Sleepwalking and Sleep Paralysis: Prevalence in Colombian Families With Genetic Generalized Epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: Sleep deprivation commonly increases seizure frequency in patients with genetic generalized epilepsy, though it is unknown whether there is an increased prevalence of sleepwalking or sleep paralysis in genetic generalized epilepsy patients. Establishing this could provide insights into the bio-mechanisms or genetic architecture of both disorders. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of sleepwalking and sleep paralysis in a cohort of patients with genetic generalized epilepsy and their relatives in extended families. METHODS: A structured interview based on International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-3) criteria was applied to 67 index cases and their relatives to determine genetic generalized epilepsy subtypes and assess the occurrence of sleepwalking or sleep paralysis. Bivariate analysis was performed using chi-square and Fisher exact tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of sleepwalking and sleep paralysis was 15.3% (95% confidence interval 12.1-18.9) and 11.7% (95% confidence interval 8.7-15.3), respectively. Unusually, no sleepwalkers were found among individuals displaying epilepsy with generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Approximately a quarter of the patients had either parasomnia or genetic generalized epilepsy. Over half the genetic generalized epilepsy families had at least 1 individual with sleepwalking, and more than 40% of the families had one individual with sleep paralysis. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of sleepwalking or sleep paralysis is reported for individuals with genetic generalized epilepsy and their relatives. The co-existence of either parasomnia in the genetic generalized epilepsy patients and the co-aggregation within their families let suggest that shared heritability and pathophysiological mechanisms exist between these disorders. We hypothesize that sleepwalking/sleep paralysis and genetic generalized epilepsy could be variable expression of genes in shared pathways.

Sleep Forensics: a critical review of the literature and brief comments on the Brazilian legal situation / Medicina do sono Forense: uma revisao critica da literatura e breves comentarios sobre a situacao brasileira

Sleep medicine is a relatively new field among Medical Sciences. Its legal aspects are still obscure, either for lack of knowledge of the biological mechanisms underlying violent behaviour during sleep or the virtual absence of clear legal and uniformly accepted guidelines as to whether to punish or treat those disorders. An updated review of the pertinent literature was performed to determine the most prevalent pathological conditions involving violence and sleep and to identify their most common precipitating factors, attempting to provide some technical support to aid Brazilian medical-experts or assistants in preparing substantial and scientific-based reports in a legal environment.

A medicina do sono é um campo relativamente novo dentro das Ciências Médicas. Seus aspectos legais encontram-se ainda na obscuridade, seja por falta de conhecimento dos mecanismos biológicos do desenvolvimento dos transtornos de comportamento e da violência praticada em estados alterados de sono, seja por virtual ausência de previsão legal do binômio tratamento/punição. Realizamos revisão atualizada da literatura para determinar as condições patológicas mais prevalentes envolvendo violência e sono, identificar seus fatores precipitantes mais comuns e os critérios médico-legais que podem auxiliar eventuais médicos-peritos ou assistentes na elaboração de pareceres abalizados em âmbito legal.