To evaluate the effect of intermittent hypoxemia on neuropsychological functioning, neuropsychological tests were administered to 14 sleep apnea patients, a control group of 10 patients with other disorders of excessive somnolence, and another control group of 14 healthy volunteers. The sleep disorder groups were matched on two measures of sleepiness. It was found that sleep apnea patients performed significantly worse than both controls on 7 of 14 neuropsychological measures and on a rating of global neuropsychological impairment. The overall level of performance reflected only moderate impairment. Within the sleep apnea group, hypoxemia severity was significantly correlated with deficits on measures of motor and perceptual-organizational ability.

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Three recreational cocaine users (age, 26.7 years), after one adaptation night, spent 5 days and nights in the laboratory where their EEG, EOG, and submental EMG were recorded during all of their sleep. On the second afternoon and evening of the study, subjects used an estimated 1 to 2 g cocaine intranasally. They all slept between 2:00 A.M. and 9:00 A.M. that night. Blood samples were drawn each evening and morning. Absolute plasma cocaine levels and patterns of elimination were consistent with subjects report of dose and time of administration. Mood ratings were made repeatedly throughout the study. There was suppression of REM sleep during the use of cocaine followed by a rebound which is specific to REM sleep and is not seen in other stages of sleep. REM variables subsided to normal levels on the third recovery night following cocaine use.

Summasy.-Ontogenetic findings have suggested a relationship between selected cognitive variables, especially Block Design ability, and REM dreamrecall rates. This study investigated the extent to which such cognitive variables could account for individual differences in the REM recall of home-dream "nonreporters," defined as self-described infrequent recallers who also recorded few dreams in a dream diary. Adult male nonreporters were assigned either to a high Block Design or low Blodt Design group ( n = G each). Other cognitive (e.g., memory and visuospatial) abilities were measured to determine relationships to REM recall rates and ratings of dream "salience." On laboratory REM awakenings, subjects high on Block Design reported significantly more dreams than subjects who were low. However, within the latter group recall races varied considerably (from 0% recall to 100% recall). This variability is accounted for in terms of an interaction of a dream-generation factor (salience) and a mnemonic factor (interference).

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Whereas earlier research had shown that Ss with lower auditory awakening thresholds (AATs) reported more dreams on awakenings from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, this study of 4 Ss over several nights each indicated no relationship between Stage 2 NREM dreaming and within-subject, within-night variations in AAT. Subjectively “deep” Stage 2 sleep was associated with high AATs and with reports of Stage 2 dreaming. AATs declined over successive nights of laboratory sleep. Earlier reports of similar AATs for Stage REM and Stage 2, a decrease in AAT with time of night, and no relationship between AAT and time since last awakening were all confirmed. Stage 2 awakenings made close together in time yielded more reports with similar manifest content.

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