INTRODUCTION. Adjectives such as tall get a high degree meaning when used in isolation. Thus, John is tall does not simply mean that John has (a certain) height, but rather that he is taller than average. This led Cresswell (1976) to argue that gradable adjectives are relations between individuals and degrees and to postulate the operator pos which binds the degree variable of the adjective whe...

STUDY OBJECTIVES Periodic leg movements in sleep (PLMS) are a frequent phenomenon in various sleep disorders. The pathophysiology of PLMS is still not understood, but recent studies indicate a hypoactivity of the dopaminergic system in subjects with PLMS. In the present study, we investigated the intrasubject variance of PLMS from one night to the other because a fluctuation in the number of PL...

In order to study both the prevalence of Primary Sleep Disorders (PSD) and sleepiness, and their association to the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), 46 unselected outpatients (34 women, mean age 36.5) were examined clinically and underwent two nights of all-night polysomnography and multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT). Forty-six percent presented with a Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea Syndrome Index (AHI>=...

BACKGROUND Relapse of major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common clinical problem. This study was designed to determine whether residual sleep disturbance (insomnia and hypersomnia) predict risk of relapse during the continuation and maintenance treatment of MDD. METHODS A total of 570 patients with MDD were treated with open-label, flexible dose fluoxetine (range 20 to 60 mg; mean dose = 45...

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common problem and leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the general population. Sleep disorders are a common finding after the acute and chronic phase of TBI. They result in daytime somnolence which in turn may lead to poor daytime performance, altered sleep-wake schedule, heightened anxiety, and poor individual sense of well-being, insomnia...

Perhaps as many as 5% of adults are excessively sleepy to a clinically relevant extent. The comparable figure for children is not known, but sleepiness is associated with many diVerent conditions and, although a neglected topic, it can be the cause of serious psychological and social disadvantage. Narcolepsy is by no means the most common cause of excessive sleepiness. Nonetheless, it is not th...

Epidemiological studies of short and long sleepers have not been conducted previously. We collected socioeconomic, psychological, and polysomnographic characteristics of 6501 parents (3252 men and 3249 women) of 4036 primary school children in Guangzhou city. The study data were collected in three phases. The overall prevalence of short (5 h or less) and long (10 h or more) sleep duration was 0...

In recent years, a number of studies have attempted to characterize psychological disturbances related to various sleep disorders. The objective of this type of research is to investigate the possibility that psychopathology may represent an etiological factor, a complication, and/or a target for treatment. In addition, disordered sleep can present itself in a complex and atypical fashion in wh...

INTRODUCTION Recurrent hypersomnia (RH) is a rare disorder without established treatment. METHODS We report 2 RH medication-responsive cases with typical characteristics of Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS). CASE-REPORTS A 10 y.o. girl and a 14 y.o. boy presented with sudden sleepiness for 3-9 days (every 2-3 weeks). Physical examination, brain images and blood tests were normal. Polysomnographic...

This is a retrospective review of PSG data from 8 narcolepsy patients and 8 idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) patients, evaluating electrophysiologic differences between these two central hypersomnias. Spindles were identified according to the AASM Manual for the Scoring of Sleep and Associated Events; and counted per epoch in the first 50 epochs of N2 sleep and the last 50 epochs of N2 sleep in each...