Summary
Polygraphic recordings of wake and sleep were performed on 10 partly bed-ridden, severely deteriorated patients with senile dementia. Compared with healthy elderly persons these subjects showed less SWS (slow wave sleep, characterized by high amplitude, slow EEG waves), less REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep, usually accompanied by dream activity) and poorly organized stage 2 sleep (no sleep spindles, i.e. phasic EEG activity with a frequency of 12–14 Hz). Six of the 10 patients had no dominant alpha rhythm during wakefulness; this seemed to be related to their more deteriorated clinical state, to still less SWS and REM sleep and more time spent in stage 2. The basic NREM-REM cycle of sleep, i.e. the regular alternation between non-REM-and REM-periods, could still be distinguished, however, and showed similar average temporal characteristics as in healthy old and younger people. Similarly, although sleep was severely fragmented in most patients and many sleep episodes occurred during the day, the day-night alternation of wakefulness and sleep was maintained in the sample as a whole.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brezinova, V., Sleep cycle content and sleep cycle duration. Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol.36 (1974) 275–282.
Carskadon, M.A., and Dement, W.C., Respiration during sleep in the aged human. J. Geront.36 (1981) 420–433.
Clausen, J., Sersen, E.A., and Lidsky, A., Sleep patterns in mental retardation: Down's syndrome. Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol.43 (1977) 183–191.
Feinberg, I., Changes in sleep cycle pattern with age. J. psychiat. Res.10 (1974) 283–306.
Feinberg, I>, Koresko, R., and Heller, N., EEG patterns as a function of normal and pathological aging in man. J. psychiat. Res.5 (1967) 107–144.
Feinberg, I., Braun, M., and Shulman, E., EEG sleep patterns in mental retardation. Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol.27 (1969) 128–141.
Gondeck, A., and Smith, J., Dynamics of human sigma sleep spindles. Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol.37 (1974) 293–297.
Kales, A., Wilson, T., and Kales, J., Measurement of all-night sleep in normal elderly persons: Effects of aging. J. Am. ger. Soc.15 (1967) 405–414.
Karacan, I., Tamara, K., Ware, J.C., Derrent, A., Williams, R.L., and Meyer, J.S., Prognostic indicators of sleep EEG patterns in cardiovascular disease: Part I. Relationship of clinical outcome to macrosleep parameters. Sleep Res.8 (1979) 230.
Karacan, I., Hirschowitz, M., Tamara, K., Thornby, J.I., Ware, J.C., Williams, R.L., and Meyer, J.S., Prognostic indicators of sleep EEG patterns in cerebrovascular disease: Part II. Relationship of clinical outcome to microsleep parameters. Sleep Res.8 (1979) 231.
Khan, A., and Rechtschaffen, A., Sleep patterns and sleep spindles in hyperkinetic children. Sleep Res.7 (1978) 137.
Miles, L.E., and Dement, W.C., Sleep and aging. Sleep3 (1980) 119–220.
Obrist, W.D., Cerebral physiology of the aged: Influence of circulatory disorders, in: Aging and the Brain, pp. 117–133. Ed. C.M. Gaitz, Plenum Press, New York 1972.
Obrist, W.D., Electroencephalographic changes in normal aging and dementia, in: Brain Function in Old Age, pp. 102–111. Eds F. Hoffmeister and Ch. Müller. Springer, Berlin 1979.
Prinz, P., Andrews-Kulis, M., Storrie, M., Bartol, M., Raskind, M., and Gerber, C., Sleep-waking pattern in normal aging and dementia. Sleep Res.7 (1978) 138.
Prinz, P.N., and Raskind, M., Aging and sleep disorders. In: Sleep Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment, pp. 303–321. Eds R.L. Williams and I. Karacan, Wiley, New York 1978.
Prinz, P., Peskind, E.R., Raskind, M., and Gerber, C., EEG and sleep changes in normal aging and dementia. Sleep Res.9 (1980) 104.
Rechtschaffen, A., and Kales, A., A manual of standardized terminology, techniques and scoring systems for sleep stages of human subjects. USPHS Publ. No. 204, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 1968.
Shibagaki, M., Kiyono, S., and Watanabe, K., Evolution of nocturnal sleep spindles in mentally retarded infants. Sleep Res.8 (1979) 130.
Shirakawa, S., Sumizono, T., and Azumi, K., Characteristics of sleep spindle activity during 7 consecutive nights. Sleep Res.7 (1978) 48.
Spiegel, R., Sleep and Sleeplessness in Advanced Age. Adv. Sleep Res. vol. 5. Ed. E.D. Weitzman, Spectrum, New York, 1981.
Spiegel, R., Aspects of sleep, daytime vigilance, mental performance and psychotropic drug treatment in the elderly. Gerontology28 suppl. (1982) 68–82.
Townsend, R.G., Prinz, P.N., and Obrist, W.D., Human cerebral blood flow during sleep and waking. J. appl. Physiol.35 (1973) 620–625.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Allen, S.R., Stähelin, H.B., Seiler, W.O. et al. EEG and sleep in aged hospitalized patients with senile dementia: 24-h recordings. Experientia 39, 249–255 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01955288
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01955288