title: P300 amplitude in subjects with primary insomnia is modulated by their sleep quality.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The hyperarousal hypothesis is evaluated while controlling the influence of the quality of sleep in the night preceding the evaluation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven primary insomniacs and 11 healthy age matched controls participated to the study. Participants filled in 2 weeks of sleep logs and self-monitored their subjective tension the evening before and the morning after each night. Afterwards, subjects were called in to the Lab for a recording session of the P300 ERP (oddball paradigm) once after a night of bad sleep quality (N-) and once after a night of good sleep quality (N+).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main result of the present study indicated that the P300 amplitude at Fz in insomniacs resulted higher following a N- and lower following a N+ with respect to controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This result suggests that cortical hyperarousal in primary insomniacs is not a stable individual characteristic, but is associated with the poor quality of their nocturnal sleep.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Via dei Marsi, 78, I-00185, Rome, Italy. alessandra.devoto@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Devoto
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Violani
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lucidi
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lombardo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*