title: [Sleep disorders in blind children].
abstract: In 4 cases of blind children also suffering from a cerebral damage disturbances of the natural sleep were observed. Such disturbances of sleep could be characterized by a dissociation of the daily sleep volume into some epoches which lasted not more than 5-6 hours each. The EEG, submental EMG and heart rate as well as respiration were recorded continuously during the sleep periods. Eye movements, however, as they are not detectable by electric recording, were observed visually. In our 4 cases of blind children eye movements disappeared during sleep and sleep stages characterized by desynchronized EEG were found to be reduced. This suggests that there might be an injury of nervous mechanisms responsible for the paradoxical sleep stage.
mesh_terms: D001766:Blindness / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D004585:Electrooculography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000150:complications; D012894:Sleep Stages; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000150:complications*
vernacular_title: Schlafstörungen blinder Kinder