https://en.smrc-sa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Sleep-Patterns-and-Predictors-of-College-Students.pdf

Sleep Patterns and Predictors of Disturbed Sleep in a Large Population of College Students

A MUCH debated question is whether sex differences exist in the functional organization of the brain for language1–4. A long-held hypothesis posits that language functions are more likely to be highly lateralized in males and to be represented in both cerebral hemispheres in females5,6, but attempts to demonstrate this have been inconclusive7–17. Here we use echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging18–21 to study 38 right-handed subjects (19 males and 19 females) during orthographic (letter recognition), phonological (rhyme) and semantic (semantic category) tasks. During phonological tasks, brain activation in males is lateralized to the left inferior frontal gyrus regions; in females the pattern of activation is very different, engaging more diffuse neural systems that involve both the left and right inferior frontal gyrus. Our data provide clear evidence for a sex difference in the functional organization of the brain for language and indicate that these variations exist at the level of phonological processing.

Sex differences in the functional organization of the brain for language

http://www.sleepforscience.org/stuff/contentmgr/files/6033aedfc83ddcdaeb659ca3a6b64849/pdf/crowley_et_al_sleep_med_2007.pdf

Sleep, circadian rhythms, and delayed phase in adolescence

REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by the loss of normal skeletal muscle atonia during REM sleep with prominent motor activity accompanying dreaming. The terminology relating to RBD, and mechanisms underlying REM sleep without atonia and RBD based on data in cat and rat are presented. Neuroimaging data from the few published human cases with RBD associated with structural lesions in the brainstem are presented, in which the dorsal midbrain and pons are implicated. Pharmacological manipulations which alter RBD frequency and severity are reviewed, and the data from human neuropathological studies are presented. An anatomic framework and new schema for the pathophysiology of RBD are proposed based on recent data in rat regarding the putative flip-flop switch for REM sleep control. The structure in man analogous to the subcoeruleus region in cat and sublaterodorsal nucleus in rat is proposed as the nucleus (and its associated efferent and afferent pathways) crucial to RBD pathophysiology. The association of RBD with neurological disease ('secondary RBD') is presented, with emphasis on RBD associated with neurodegenerative disease, particularly the synucleinopathies. The hypothesized pathophysiology of RBD is presented in relation to the Braak staging system for Parkinson's disease, in which the topography and temporal sequence of synuclein pathology in the brain could explain the evolution of parkinsonism and/or dementia well after the onset of RBD. These data suggest that many patients with 'idiopathic' RBD are actually exhibiting an early clinical manifestation of an evolving neurodegenerative disorder. Such patients may be appropriate for future drug therapies that affect synuclein pathophysiology, in which the development of parkinsonism and/or dementia could be delayed or prevented. We suggest that additional clinicopathological studies be performed in patients with dementia or parkinsonism, with and without RBD, as well as in patients with idiopathic RBD, to further elucidate the pathophysiology and also characterize the clinical and pathophysiological relevance of RBD in neurodegenerative disease. Furthermore, longitudinal studies in patients with idiopathic RBD are warranted to characterize the natural history of such patients and prepare for future therapeutic trials.

/pdf/pathophysiology-of-rem-sleep-behaviour-disorder-and-4m6fd57m2a.pdf

Pathophysiology of REM sleep behaviour disorder and relevance to neurodegenerative disease

Kindling and status epilepticus models of epilepsy: rewiring the brain.

Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia with clinical symptoms that include punching, kicking, yelling and leaping out of bed in sleep. Polysomnographic (PSG) finding showed REM sleep without muscle atonia. Clonazepam is generally used for treating RBD symptoms but melatonin was reported to be effective so we reconfirmed the effect of melatonin on RBD patients in the present study. We used melatonin (3–9 mg/day) which could ameliorate problem sleep behaviors remarkably, as well as %tonic activity in PSG variables. In the present study, melatonin was reconfirmed to be effective in RBD symptoms, especially for patients with low melatonin secretion, while its mechanism was not clearly known in the present study.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1440-1819.2001.00854.x

Melatonin therapy for REM sleep behavior disorder

Sleep Findings in Young Adult Patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Long-term patterns of change in ERPs across repeated measurements

To elucidate the cause of idiopathic rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD), magnetic resonance imaging and single-photon emission computed tomography of the brain were conducted on 20 patients with RBD. Blood flow in the upper portion of both sides of the frontal lobe and pons was significantly lower in patients with RBD than in the normal elderly group. Among the patients with RBD, decreased blood flow in the frontal lobe showed no correlation with the extent of frontal lobe atrophy. Decreased blood flow in the upper portion of the frontal lobe and pons might be associated with the pathogenesis of idiopathic RBD.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1440-1819.2002.00961.x

Study of image findings in rapid eye movement sleep behavioural disorder.

Summary: Purpose: To describe the recent epidemic of photosensitive seizure that occurred in relation to an episode of the television animation program “Pocket Monsters,” we report four patients who experienced seizures while watching the episode in question. We also report some technical aspects of the program episode.



Methods: We investigated the clinical symptoms of the four patients and performed routine EEGs with intermittent photic stimulation (IPS). If IPS provoked no photoparoxysmal response (PPR) during the routine EEG examination, a second EEG was performed with the photic stimulator placed 10 cm from the patient's eyes. In addition, we reviewed the “Pocket Monsters” episode, focusing our attention on the visual techniques used with reference to the Independent Television Commission (ITC) guidelines.



Results: One patient who had myoclonic jerks before the convulsion in question was diagnosed as having juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, and the diagnosis of another patient was pure photosensitive epilepsy. The remaining two patients had their first seizures, which could be occasional seizures, and we therefore could not reach a diagnosis of epilepsy. In our four patients, only one showed PPR on the routine EEG. Two patients revealed PPR on the second EEG, and the remaining patient showed no PPR. Rapid changes in color are believed to be responsible for the photosensitive seizures because all four patients had seizures at around 1850, when seconds of deep red and bright blue flashes, alternating at a frequency of 12 Hz, were shown.



Conclusions: Regulations for technical aspects of children's programming, including the use of colors, are urgently needed in Japan to prevent a repeated incident. In addition, the IPS procedure needs to be standardized, especially for patients who are suspected to have photosensitivity.

Hisao Maeda

Papers

Melatonin therapy for REM sleep behavior disorder

Sleep Findings in Young Adult Patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Long-term patterns of change in ERPs across repeated measurements

Study of image findings in rapid eye movement sleep behavioural disorder.

Photosensitive Seizures Provoked While Viewing “Pocket Monsters,” a Made‐for‐Televison Animation Program in Japan