Ernest Hartmann

The functions of sleep

Theories of the function of sleep and review of sleep research, and study of mind-body relationship. Effects on sleep of stress, activity, drugs. Role of dreaming.

The effects of long term administration of psychotropic drugs on human sleep: II. The effects of reserpine

Reserpine 0.50 mg/day was administered over a period of four weeks to a group of normal young males. Laboratory sleep, home sleep, and mood were studied throughout the period of administration and for a month afterwards. Results were compared to identically administered long-term placebo.Total sleep was slightly increased at first; D-time and the number of D-periods were clearly increased by reserpine. These effects were prominent from day three, through the second week. D-latency and length of the sleep-dream cycle was decreased. Subjective aspects of sleep were not greatly changed. Mood scales indicated an increase in “fatigue” and a decrease in “vigor” during reserpine administration.

MHPG Excretion in Depressive Disorders: Relation to Clinical Subtypes and Desynchronized Sleep

The urinary excretion of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) was significantly lower in patients with manic-depressive depressions than in patients with chronic characterological depressions. There was an inverse relationship between MHPG excretion and the amount of time spent in desynchronized sleep, particularly in the manic-depressive disorders. Excretion of MHPG was not related to the degree of retardation, agitation, or anxiety in these patients.

Reserpine: its effect on the sleep-dream cycle in man.

SummaryThe effect of reserpine on the sleep and dream patterns of six normal human subjects was investigated. All-night EEG and eye-movement recordings were obtained on about fifteen nights for each subject.Results indicate that reserpine, in single doses of 1.0 to 2.0 mg increased the time spent in the D-state (“dreaming sleep”, “REM-sleep”) both in absolute terms and as a percentage of total time asleep. Reserpine also increased the number of awakenings but did not significantly affect the total amount of sleep.It is suggested that the central effect of reserpine, its action in releasing serotonin and norephrine from storage in brain cells, is probably involved.

The effect of four drugs on sleep patterns in man

SummaryThe acute effects of four drugs — pentobarbital, amitriptyline, chlordiazepoxide, and RO 5-6901 (a new benzodiazepine)—on sleep were investigated in 10 normal human subjects.All the drugs produced a slight increase in total sleep time. D-time and D-time percent were moderately reduced by pentobarbital and greatly reduced by amitriptyline. The two benzodiazepines had no effect on these variables, i.e. they produced a night of normal or increased sleep without the reduced D-time found after most clinically used drugs.The possibility is discussed that the effect of antidepressant agents on sleep patterns—specifically a reduction in the “need for D” —may be related to their clinical action.

BRIEF COMMUNICATION: Sleep Induced by L-Tryptophan: Effect of Dosages within the Normal Dietary Intake

Previous results have demonstrated sleep-inducing effects of L-tryptophan in doses of 1 to 15 g at bedtime. The present laboratory study extends the dose-response curve downward, comparing doses of ¼ g, ½ g, and 1 g of L-tryptophan with placebo, in 15 mild insomniacs (subjects who reported sleep latencies of over 30 minutes). One gram of Ltryptophan significantly reduced sleep latency: the lower doses produced a trend in the same direction. Stage IV sleep was significantly increased by ¼ g of L-tryptophan. These results at low doses have interesting implications since the normal dietary intake of L-tryptophan is ½ g to 2 g per day.

Sleep Deprivation and Brain Acetylcholine

Rats deprived of D-state sleep (and, to some extent, of slow-wave sleep) for 96 hours show a significant fall in brain acetylcholine in the telencephalon; there were no significant changes in the diencephalon and brain stem. Restraint stress and activity wheel stress produced no significant change in acetylcholine levels in any of these regions; the telencephalic response to sleep deprivation, therefore, cannot be attributed to nonspecific stress. The effects of D-state deprivation and the psychoactive anticholinergic drugs on telencephalic acetylcholine levels are similar.

Schizophrenia: A theory

A theory is developed along the following lines: Schizophrenia is basically an illness; the variety of clinical syndromes can perhaps be understood as adaptations to a single deficit; and the multiplicity of ‘causes’ or aggravating factors can be seen as factors producing acute or chronic stress. Thus both apparent complexities could be compatible with a single basic deficit which includes vulnerability to stress.The deficit may be in the area of feedback processing. Evidence of subtle neuromuscular dysfunction in schizophrenia compatible with a feedback processing deficit is presented. It is suggested that deficient functioning of brain norepinephrine systems may underlie this feedback processing deficit. Since both the feedback processing deficit and the norepinephrine deficiency have previously been postulated as characteristic of desynchronized or dreaming sleep (REM sleep), this view provides a possible biological basis for the similarities between dreaming and schizophrenia.Data concerning the behavioral and psychological effects of dopamine are examined, it is suggested that dopamine plays a role as the biological substrate of un-neutralized psychic energy, which in vulnerable individuals produces psychotic pressure. This may involve dopamine released from noradrenergic neurons in the brain, and acting at these norepinephrine synapses or at dopamine synapses in close proximity, for instance in the cerebral cortex. If so, the basic, probably genetic, deficit producing susceptibility to schizophrenia could be at the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase step. This could explain the schizophrenics acute sensitivity to stress since at times of stress norepinephrine would be reduced and synthesis of dopamine but not of norepinephrine would be increased.

L-Tryptophane and sleep

L-Tryptophane, an essential amino acid and a precursor of serotonin, is shown to have definite effects on human sleep. In normal subjects it reduces sleep latency and slightly increases sleep length without altering the qualitative characteristics of polygraphically recorded sleep. In a double-blind study of 24 hospitalized insomniac patients, doses of 4 g or 5 g of L-tryptophane significantly increased sleep time, reduced sleep latency, and reduced the number of awakenings.

We Do Not Dream of the 3 R's: Implications for the Nature of Dreaming Mentation

This report examines the extent to which dream recall involves the “3 Rs” (reading, writing, and arithmetic). Two separate studies were done. In the first study, two scorers rated, on a blind basis, a total of 456 written dream reports, available from five previous studies. There was perfect agreement between the two scorers. They agreed that there were no instances of reading, no instances of writing, and one instance of probable calculating in the 456 dreams. The second study was a questionnaire survey. Complete responses were obtained from 240 frequent dreamers (who reported remembering a mean of seven dreams per week). The study examined in two ways the frequency of the 3 Rs in their recalled dreams. First, in answer to direct questions as to how frequently they dreamt about each activity, roughly 90% of the respondents reported that they “never” or “hardly ever” dreamt about each of four activities: reading, writing, typing, and calculating. In answers to other questions, this group reported spending a mean of six hours per day engaged in these activities. Second, responses as to the relative prominence of six activities (walking, writing, talking with friends, reading, sexual activity, typing) in dreaming versus waking produced two clear groupings of activities. “Walking,” “talking with friends,” and “sexual activity” were each rated almost as prominent in dreaming as in waking whereas the second group consisting of “writing,” “reading,” and “typing” were rated as far more prominent in waking than in dreaming. The two activity groups differed at p < .0001. Thus, the 3 Rs appear to occur very infrequently in dreams. These findings are placed in a theoretical frame which suggests that dreaming (compared to waking) deals very little with serial activities characterized by “input—rapid-processing—output” in which the neural nets function in a feed-forward mode. Rather, dreaming may be characterized by relatively broad or loose connection making in which the nets function more in an autoassociative mode.