title: REM alpha rhythm: diagnostic for narcolepsy?
abstract: A young man, in whom narcolepsy was subsequently diagnosed, had the simultaneous onset of quadriparesis and a rapid eye movement (REM)-sleep polysomnographic pattern. During this REM-sleep pattern, a waking alpha EEG rhythm, appearing when he was asked to close his eyes, immediately attenuated when he was instructed to open his eyes, after which the REM-sleep pattern persisted. The juxtaposition of REM sleep patterns and reactive alpha rhythms are likely unique to sleep paralysis and may prove valuable in diagnosing narcolepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sleep Disorders Center, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. markdyken@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Mark Eric
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Dyken
authors.forename: Evan J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Wenger
authors.forename: Thoru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009290:Narcolepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D017286:Polysomnography; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*