Sawtooth waves during REM sleep after administration of haloperidol combined with total sleep deprivation in healthy young subjects

Abstract

We sought to examine the possible participation of dopaminergic receptors in the phasic events that occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, known as sawtooth waves (STW). These phasic phenomena of REM sleep exhibit a unique morphology and, although they represent a characteristic feature of REM sleep, little is known about the mechanisms which generate them and which are apparently different from rapid eye movements. STW behavior was studied in 10 male volunteers aged 20 to 35 years, who were submitted to polysomnographic monitoring (PSG). On the adaptation night they were submitted to the first PSG and on the second night, to the basal PSG. On the third night the volunteers received placebo or haloperidol and spent the whole night awake. On the fourth night they were submitted to the third PSG. After a 15-day rest period, the volunteers returned to the sleep laboratory and, according to a double-blind crossover randomized design, received haloperidol or placebo and spent the whole night awake, after which they were submitted to the fourth PSG. The volunteers who were given haloperidol combined with sleep deprivation exhibited an elevation of the duration and density of the STW, without significant alterations of the other REM sleep phasic phenomena such as rapid eye movement. These findings suggest that sawtooth waves must have their own generating mechanisms and that the dopaminergic receptors must exert a modulating role since REM sleep deprivation, as well as administration of neuroleptics, produces supersensitivity of dopaminergic receptors. Correspondence

Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Sawtooth Waves Are Associated with Widespread Cortical Activations

“…However, our observations were not based on the comparison between phasic and tonic REM sleep, which points to the fact that phasic REM sleep does not totally coincide with REM sleep with bursts of REM. This is in line with several works about dissociated behaviors of the various components of phasic REM sleep in experimental or pathologic conditions (Geisler et al, 1987;Pinto et al, 2002). Nevertheless, given the particular temporal relationship between STW and bursts of REM (Sato et al, 1997), confirmed in our study, it may be hypothesized that STW represent the border between tonic and phasic REM sleep.…”

Regional Delta Waves In Human Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

“…Frontal-central sawtooth waves resembled the typical sawtooth waves of REM sleep originally described in the 1960s (Jouvet et al, 1960;Schwartz and Fischgold, 1960;Berger et al, 1962). There is no universal agreement on defining criteria for sawtooth waves, but they are often described as medium-amplitude waves (Ն 20 V) between 2 and 5 Hz (Jouvet et al, 1960;Berger et al, 1962;Yasoshima et al, 1984;Pinto et al, 2002;Vega-Bermudez et al, 2005), with a triangular shape (initial slow increase followed by a steep decrease; Rechtschaffen and Kales, 1968;Tafti et al, 1991;Rodenbeck et al, 2006) and a maximal frontal-central amplitude (Yasoshima et al, 1984;Broughton and Hasan, 1995). The presence of a notch, usually on the positive-to-negative slope, is occasionally mentioned (Foulkes and Pope, 1973;Rodenbeck et al, 2006).…”

Regional low-frequency oscillations in human rapid-eye movement sleep

“…These waves resembled typical sawtooth waves of REM sleep, originally described in the 1960s [32,39,40]. There is no universal agreement on defining criteria for sawtooth waves, but they are often described as medium amplitude waves (≥ 20 µV) between 2 and 5 Hz [32,39,[41][42][43], with a triangular shape (initial slow increase followed by a steep decrease [38,44,45]), and a maximal fronto-central amplitude [41,46]. The presence of a notch, usually on the positive-to-negative slope, is occasionally mentioned [38,47].…”