Abstract
EEG sleep recordings were obtained on consecutive nights from six hospitalized depressed patients before, during, and after treatment with amitriptyline for a total of 370 nights of data, about 85% of all nights of the study. Amitriptyline significantly reduced time spent in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and prolonged the REM latency throughout the treatment period. Three patients who improved during treatment showed a REM rebound when amitriptyline was discontinued, whereas three patients who did not improve showed no REM rebound.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Akindele, M. O., Evans, J. I., Oswald, I.: Mono-amine oxidase inhibitors, sleep, and mood. Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 29, 47–56 (1970)
Baxter, B. L., Gluckman, M. I.: Iprindole: an antidepressant which does not block REM sleep. Nature 223, 750–752 (1969)
Chassan, J. B.: Research design in clinical psychology and psychiatry. New York: Appelton-Century-Crofts 1967
Dunleavy, D. L. E., Bruzinova, V., Oswald, I., MacLean, A. W., Tinker, M.: Changes during weeks in effects of tricyclic drugs on the human sleeping brain. Br. J. Psychiatry 120, 663–672 (1972)
Hartmann, E., Cravens, J.: The effects of long term administration of psychotropic drugs on human sleep. III. The effects of amitriptyline. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 33, 185–202 (1973)
Jacobs, L. S., Green, R., Gillin, J. C., Wyatt, R. J., Snyder, F.: A toxic psychosis and sleep changes in a patient receiving phenelzine. J. Hawaiian Med. Soc. 35, 109–111 (1976)
Kupfer, D. J., Bowers, M. B.: REM sleep and central monoamine oxidase inhibition. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 27, 183–190 (1972)
Kupfer, D. J., Foster, F. G., Reich, L., Thompson, K. S., Weiss, B.: EEG sleep changes as predictors in depression. Annu. J. Psychiatry 133, 622–626 (1977)
Kupfer, D. J., Wyatt, R. J., Greenspan, K., Scott, J., Snyder, F.: Lithium carbonate and sleep in affective illness. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 23, 35–40 (1970)
Lowy, F. H., Cleghorn, J. M., McClure, D. J.: Sleep patterns in depression. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 153, 10–26 (1971)
Mendels, J., Chernik, D. A.: The effect of lithium carbonate on the sleep of depressed patients. Int. Pharmacopsychiatry 8, 184–192 (1973)
Mendels, J., Hawkins, D. R.: Sleep and depression. IV. Longitudinal studies. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 153, 251–272 (1971)
Mendelson, W. B., Gillin, J. C., Wyatt, R. J.: Human sleep and its disorders. New York: Plenum 1977
Rechtschaffen, A., Kales, A.: A manual of standardized terminology, techniques, and scoring system for sleep stages of human subjects. Los Angeles: Brain Information Service, Brain Research Institute 1968
Siegel, S.: Nonparametric statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill 1956
Vogel, G. W.: A review of REM sleep deprivation. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 32, 765–777 (1975)
Vogel, G. W., Thurmond, S., Gibbons, P., Sloan, K., Walker, M.: REM sleep reduction effects on depression syndromes. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 32, 765–777 (1975)
Wyatt, R. J., Kupfer, D. J.: A fourteen-symptom behavioral and mood rating scale for longitudinal patient evaluation by nurses. Psychol. Rep. 23, 1331–1334 (1968)
Wyatt, R. J., Fram, D., Kupfer, D. J., Snyder, F.: Total prolonged drug-induced REM sleep suppression in anxious-depressed patients. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 24, 145–155 (1971)
Zung, W. W. K.: Effects of antidepressant drugs on sleep and dreaming III on the depressed patient. Biol. Psychiatry 1, 283–287 (1969)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gillin, J.C., Wyatt, R.J., Fram, D. et al. The relationship between changes in REM sleep and clinical improvement in depressed patients treated with amitriptyline. Psychopharmacology 59, 267–272 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426633
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426633
Key words
- Depression
- Sleep
- REM sleep
- Amitriptyline