title: REM sleep latency during nocturnal sleep in mentally retarded infants.
abstract: REM sleep latency observed in 61 mentally retarded infants (4-13 months of age) was studied throughout nocturnal sleep. Mentally retarded infants revealed a J distribution of short (less than 8 min) and long (more than 8 min) REM sleep latencies. This feature of distribution was similar to that obtained by other authors from normal infants under 3 months of age. REM sleep latency did not depend on the duration of prior wakefulness. Long REM sleep latencies were no more often preceded by long episodes of wakefulness than were short REM sleep latencies. No correlation was found between REM sleep latency and age, developmental quotient or daytime clinical EEG abnormalities.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology