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Sleep spindles in bipolar disorder – a comparison to healthy control subjects
Author(s) -
Ritter P. S.,
Schwabedal J.,
Brandt M.,
Schrempf W.,
Brezan F.,
Krupka A.,
Sauer C.,
Pfennig A.,
Bauer M.,
Soltmann B.,
Nikitin E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/acps.12924
Subject(s) - sleep spindle , endophenotype , bipolar disorder , polysomnography , psychology , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , audiology , depression (economics) , slow wave sleep , psychiatry , neuroscience , electroencephalography , medicine , cognition , economics , macroeconomics
Objective Bipolar disorder is a severe mental disorder for which currently no reliable biomarkers exist. It has been shown that patients with schizophrenia but not with unipolar depression have a reduced density of fast sleep spindles during N2 sleep. The aim of this study was to assess fast sleep spindle density in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. Methods Patients with bipolar disorder ( n = 24) and healthy control subjects ( n = 25) were assessed using all‐night polysomnography. Sleep spindles within stage N2 sleep were identified by visual inspection and subdivided into fast (>13 Hz) and slow (≤13 Hz) spindles. All spindles were subsequently characterised by density, frequency, amplitude, duration and coherence. Results Euthymic patients with bipolar disorder were found to have a reduced density and a lower mean frequency of fast spindles. Slow spindle density and frequency did not differ between groups. There were no differences regarding amplitude, duration or coherence. Conclusions A reduction in fast spindle density during N2 sleep points towards thalamic dysfunction as a potential neurobiological mechanism of relevance in bipolar disorder. In addition, a reduced sleep spindle density could be interpreted as a common endophenotype shared with schizophrenia but not unipolar depression and may – if replicated – be of utility in early recognition and risk stratification.