查看文章

Since ancient times it is known that melancholia and sleep disturbances co-occur. The introduction of polysomnography into psychiatric research confirmed a disturbance of sleep continuity in patients with depression, revealing not only a decrease in Slow Wave Sleep, but also a disinhibition of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, demonstrated as a shortening of REM latency, an increase of REM density, as well as total REM sleep time. Initial hopes that these abnormalities of REM sleep may serve as differential-diagnostic markers for subtypes of depression were not fulfilled. Almost all antidepressant agents suppress REM sleep and a time-and-dose–response relationship between total REM sleep suppression and therapeutic response to treatment seemed apparent. The so-called Cholinergic REM Induction Test revealed that REM sleep abnormalities can be mimicked by administration of cholinomimetic agents …