title: Comparison of interwave latencies of brain stem auditory evoked responses in narcoleptics, primary insomniacs and normal controls.
abstract: A study of brain stem auditory evoked responses (BAER) was carried out in 10 narcoleptics, 10 primary insomniacs and 10 normal controls to determine if a neurophysiologic abnormality could be detected in these primary sleep disorders. The mean interpeak conduction times of Wave I-III, III-V and Iv were compared between the following groups: normal controls awake and in monitored sleep; narcoleptics awake and in monitored sleep, normal controls awake and narcoleptics awake; normal controls awake and insomniacs awake; narcoleptics awake and insomniacs awake; narcoleptics with cataplexy (n = 6) awake and narcoleptics without cataplexy (n = 4) awake. No significant differences were found which suggests that these sleep disorders represent dysfunctions which do not involve brain stem structures subserving the BAER.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000703:Analog-Digital Conversion; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002385:Cataplexy / Q000503:physiopathology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008905:Minicomputers; D009290:Narcolepsy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology