Sleep polygrams

Polvgraphic sleep studies with antidepressants have traditionally been of great interest since certain forms of depression are characterized by common features in the sleep polygram (very short REM sleep latency, i.e. time until appearance of first REM phase frequent sleep interruptions) and it was found that many antidepressants affect the sleep pattern of healthy subjects in the opposite way to that observed in endogenous depression (Vogel et al., 1990). Typically, many antidepressants lead to a dose-dependent prolongation of REM latency and an overall reduction in the duration of REM sleep. However,... 

Sleep polygram WASO and unrest f, stage 2 and sleep duration f, REM sleep f No data... 

Stimulants, if taken in the evening, delay sleep onset, impair the continuity of sleep at low doses and curtail its duration at higher doses (Fig. 3.7). Amphetamine-like stimulants and caffeine have different effects on REM sleep, which is unchanged after caffeine but dose-dependently reduced after amphetamine. Modafinil at single doses of 100 and 200 mg has only weak effects on the sleep polygram, with a pattern similar to that of amphetamine. 

Substance class Compound Subjective criteria Performance parameters effect Wake EEG Sleep polygram... 

Sharpley, A.L., McGavm, C.L., Whale, R., et al. Antidepressant-like effect of hypericum perforatum (St John s wort) on the sleep polygram. Psvchophannacologv 139, 286-287, 1998. 

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