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Pharmacological alteration of sleep and dreams — a clinical framework for utilizing the electrophysiological and sleep stage effects of psychoactive medications
Author(s) -
Pagel J. F.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(199605)11:3<217::aid-hup790>3.0.co;2-0
Subject(s) - sleep (system call) , electroencephalography , dream , medicine , electrophysiology , neuroscience , sleep onset latency , psychology , psychiatry , sleep disorder , insomnia , computer science , operating system
Psychoactive medications can alter the occurrence, latency and EEG characteristics of specific sleep/dream states. CNS active drugs are increasingly being defined by the EEG effects associated with the behavioural effects which they produce. Most disorders of dreaming, parasomnias, and the symptom complexes of a variety of medical disorders are sleep‐state‐specific, occurring only in one of the electrophysiologically defined sleep stages. Clinical depression produces a decrease in REMS and REMS latency. The effects of CNS active medications can be correlated with alterations in specific states of sleep and dreaming induced by medical and psychiatric disorders. Sleep states can be pharmacologically altered, reduced or eliminated. A framework of sleep‐stage‐specific drug effects can be used to explain and suggest appropriate therapies for treating sleep/dream‐state‐specific disorders and symptoms.