title: Analysis of slow-wave activity and slow-wave oscillations prior to somnambulism.
abstract: STUDY OBJECTIVIES: several studies have investigated slow wave sleep EEG parameters, including slow-wave activity (SWA) in relation to somnambulism, but results have been both inconsistent and contradictory. The first goal of the present study was to conduct a quantitative analysis of sleepwalkers' sleep EEG by studying fluctuations in spectral power for delta (1-4 Hz) and slow delta (0.5-1 Hz) before the onset of somnambulistic episodes. A secondary aim was to detect slow-wave oscillations to examine changes in their amplitude and density prior to behavioral episodes.
  
  
  METHODS
  twenty-two adult sleepwalkers were investigated polysomnographically following 25 h of sleep deprivation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  analysis of patients' sleep EEG over the 200 sec prior to the episodes' onset revealed that the episodes were not preceded by a gradual increase in spectral power for either delta or slow delta over frontal, central, or parietal leads. However, time course comparisons revealed significant changes in the density of slow-wave oscillations as well as in very slow oscillations with significant increases occurring during the final 20 sec immediately preceding episode onset.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the specificity of these sleep EEG parameters for the occurrence and diagnosis of NREM parasomnias remains to be determined.
authors.affiliation: Centre D'étude de Sommeil Hôpital de Sacré-Coeur, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Jaar
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pilon
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carrier
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montplaisir
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zadra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000503:physiopathology; D012894:Sleep Stages; D013009:Somnambulism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric