REM alpha rhythm: diagnostic for narcolepsy?
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.
Dyken
Mark Eric
ME
Department of Neurology, Sleep Disorders Center, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. markdyken@uiowa.edu
Wenger
Evan J
EJ
Yamada
Thoru
T
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*