Progressive Dementia and Hypersomnolence With Dream-Enacting Behavior

Abstract

Background: Sleep disorders are associated with several types of degenerative dementias, including Alzheimer and prion diseases. Animal models have demonstrated abolition of rapid eye movement atonia, resulting in dream-enacting complex movements termed oneiric behavior, and patients with fatal familial insomnia may have vivid dreams that intrude on wakefulness.

Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience

“…Evidence supporting the idea of mirror activity in a purely sensory domain has been provided by two recent studies on "empathy for touch" [130,131]. Blakemore et al [131], for example, found common S1 activations with a topographic organization during the personal experience of touching stimuli delivered to the face or the neck and the observation of such stimulations in others.…”

“…In keeping with this notion, a number of brain systems with mirror properties have also been recently described in the domain of emotion [126][127][128][129] and sensory processing [50,125,[130][131][132][133][134]. Thus, the MMS may be only one of the systems of our social brain that allow us to have a direct experiential knowledge about others.…”

“…Blakemore et al [131], for example, found common S1 activations with a topographic organization during the personal experience of touching stimuli delivered to the face or the neck and the observation of such stimulations in others.…”

“…A demented syndrome with hypersomnia, enacted dreams and loss of slow wave sleep has recently been reported [131].…”

Dreaming: a neurological view

“…A dementia syndrome with hypersomnia, enacted dreams and loss of slow-wave sleep has recently been reported [111].…”