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Electroencephalographic Sleep Recordings and Depression in the Elderly *
Author(s) -
Kupfer David J.,
Spiker Duane G.,
Coble Patricia A.,
Shaw David H.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1978.tb02541.x
Subject(s) - medicine , electroencephalography , sleep (system call) , depression (economics) , audiology , delta wave , slow wave sleep , psychiatry , computer science , economics , macroeconomics , operating system
ABSTRACT Eighteen patients over the age of 60 who were experiencing a major depressive episode were studied on a Clinical Research Unit after they had been drug‐free for at least two weeks. All‐night electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings revealed considerable fragmentation of sleep, a mean sleep efficiency of 58 percent, and very little delta sleep. The findings of reduced sleep time, shortened REM latency, and high REM density were similar to those in depressed patients under the age of 60. These preliminary findings support the application of EEG sleep recordings as a tool for the differential diagnosis of depression in the elderly.