Isolated sleep paralysis (ISP) is a common parasomnia characterized by an inability to move or speak and often accompanied by hallucinations of a sensed presence nearby. Recent research has linked ISP, and sensed presence more particularly, with social anxiety and other psychopathologies. The present study used a large sample of respondents to an internet questionnaire (N=193) to test whether t...

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a common congenital heart disease that results when the ductus arteriosus, a muscular artery, fails to remodel and close after birth. A syndromic form of this disorder, Char syndrome, is caused by mutation in TFAP2B, the gene encoding a neural crest-derived transcription factor. Established features of the syndrome are PDA, facial dysmorphology, and fifth-finge...

Bruxism is characterized by non-functional contact of mandibular and maxillary teeth resulting in clenching or grating of teeth. Theories on factors causing bruxism are a matter of controversy in current literature. The dental profession has predominantly viewed peripheral local morphological disorders, such as malocclusion, as the cause of clenching and gnashing. This etiological model is base...

OBJECTIVE To explain relatively common phenomenon of laughing during sleep and help to better define criteria for differentiating between physiological and pathological sleep-laughing. METHODS Observational study of patients who underwent a sleep assessment in a referential tertiary health facility. RESULTS A total of ten patients exhibited sleep laughing, nine of whom had episodes associat...

BACKGROUND Sleep-related eating disorder is characterized by parasomnia with recurrent episodes of nocturnal eating or drinking during the main sleep period. Several drugs, including atypical antipsychotics, induce sleep-related eating disorder. However, aripiprazole has not previously been associated with sleep-related eating disorder. CASE PRESENTATION A 41-year-old Japanese man visited our...

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is parasomnia characterized by REM sleep without atonia (RWA) and elaborate motor activity in association with dream mentation. Periodic leg movement during sleep (PLMS) is observed in a large share of patients with RBD, suggesting a common pathology: dopaminergic dysfunction. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness and mech...

OBJECTIVE There is a surging public interest in The Netherlands concerning sleep, sleep disorders and associated health. For a proper perspective, it is necessary to have reliable information on the prevalence of sleep characteristics at the national level. This study set out to assess prevalence rates and key characteristics of sleep and sleep disorders in The Netherlands. METHODS In 2012, a...

Parasomnias may occur at the transition from wakefulness to non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, e.g., hypnic starts, during NREM sleep, e.g., teeth grinding, head banging, sleep walking, confusional arousals, and sleep terrors, or during rapid eye movement or REM sleep, e.g., nightmares and REM sleep behavior disorder [1, 2]. The occurrence of parasomnias in preschool age children is almost ub...

BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease is a heterogeneous disorder where genetic factors may underlie clinical variability. Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia strongly linked to synucleinopathies, including Parkinson's disease. We hypothesized that SNCA variants conferring risk of Parkinson's disease would also predispose to an RBD phenotype. METHODS We assessed possible...