Journal
WORLD JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
Volume 18, Issue 8, Pages 633-640Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/15622975.2016.1224924
Keywords
Brain arousal regulation; hyperarousal; VIGALL 2.1; depression; insomnia
Categories
Funding
- LIFE-Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University Leipzig
- European Union
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
- Free State of Saxony
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objectives: Although patients with depression often suffer from sleep disturbances, most of them are not sleepy. Upregulation of brain arousal has been proposed as pathophysiological mechanism explaining sleep disturbances, inner tension, autonomic hyperarousal and anhedonia in depression. The aim of the current study was to examine the association between night-time sleep disturbances and brain arousal regulation the next day in depressed versus non-depressed subjects. Methods: Twenty-eight elderly subjects (21 female; age = 70.5 +/- 4.4 years) with depressive syndromes without psychotropic medication, and 28 controls (22 female; age = 70.9 +/- 4.5 years), underwent a 15-min resting electroencephalogram; the Vigilance Algorithm Leipzig (VIGALL 2.1) provided an objective measure of brain arousal regulation. Sleep disturbances were assessed by a validated and self-rated sleep questionnaire. Results: In the depressive group, but not in controls, more sleep disturbances were associated with a higher brain arousal stability score (high score corresponds to upregulation) the next day (sleep onset latency: rs = 0.69, P<. 0001; sleep quality: rs = -0.59, P<. 001). Conclusions: The data confirm the hypothesis that in persons with depressive syndromes sleep disturbances are related to upregulation of brain arousal the next day. This finding is in line with the concept that dysregulation of brain arousal is a central pathophysiological aspect in depression.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available