title: The effects of galantamine and buspirone on sleep structure: Implications for understanding sleep abnormalities in major depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The serotonergic and cholinergic systems are jointly involved in regulating sleep, but this balance is theorized to be disturbed in depressed individuals.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study was to use biological probes in healthy participants, to model the serotonergic/cholinergic imbalance of depression and its associated abnormalities in sleep structure.
  
  
  METHODS
  We tested 20 healthy female participants 18-30 years of age on four non-consecutive nights. Participants were given galantamine (a cholinergic agent), buspirone (a serotonergic agonist), both drugs together, or placebo before sleeping.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Buspirone suppressed tonic rapid eye movement (REM): There was a significant increase in REM latency (p < 0.001). Galantamine increased tonic REM sleep, leading to more time spent in REM (p < 0.001) and shorter REM latency (p < 0.01). Galantamine and buspirone given together were not significantly different from the placebo night by REM sleep measures, but disrupted sleep more than either drug alone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings are partially consistent with the cholinergic literature about sleep in depression, notably short REM latency, higher percentage of total sleep time spent in REM and increased sleep fragmentation. The prolonged REM latency and reduced percentage of REM with buspirone resembled the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants on REM sleep.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada University of Ottawa Institute for Mental Health Research, Ottawa, ON, Canada Kathleen.biard@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Biard
authors.affiliation: University of Ottawa Institute for Mental Health Research, Ottawa, ON, Canada Royal Ottawa Mental Health Center, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Alan B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Douglass
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada University of Ottawa Institute for Mental Health Research, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Koninck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002065:Buspirone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005702:Galantamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000187:drug effects*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D005702:Galantamine; D002065:Buspirone
keywords: Acetylcholine; buspirone; depression; galantamine; rapid eye movement; serotonin; sleep; sleep mechanism; sleep regulation