Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

A Chronic Sleep Fragmentation Model using Vibrating Orbital Rotor to Induce Cognitive Deficit and Anxiety-Like Behavior in Young Wild-Type Mice
Published on: September 22, 2020
REM sleep disinhibition at sleep onset: a comparison between narcolepsy and depression
T Pollmächer1, J Mullington, C J Lauer
1Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Institute, Munich, Germany.
Abstract:
Shortened REM latency and increased REM density are frequently observed in both narcolepsy and depression, suggesting a common mechanism of REM sleep disinhibition in these disorders. We compared night sleep recordings of 24 depressive and 24 narcoleptic patients. The amount of REM sleep and REM density did not differ between the patient groups; however, REM latency distributions differed significantly. Whereas in narcoleptic patients REM episodes started either immediately at sleep onset or following at least 60 min of non-REM sleep, in depressives two thirds of REM latencies were in the range from 1 to 60 min. In narcoleptic patients, short as compared to long REM latencies were associated with longer total sleep time, greater sleep efficiency, reduced amounts of wakefulness, and increased amounts of slow-wave sleep. In depressive subjects the reverse pattern was seen. We conclude that a common mechanism of REM sleep disinhibition in narcolepsy and depression is very unlikely.
Related Concept Videos
Sleep-Wake Cycles
NREM Sleep
NREM sleep comprises four progressive stages that seamlessly merge:
Management of Insomnia
Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Miscellaneous Agents
Melatonin congeners like ramelteon (Rozerem) and tasimelteon (Hetlioz) selectively bind to melatonin receptors (MT1 and MT2) and thus mimic the actions of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. Tasimelteon is primarily used for non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder, common in blind patients. They are also used to treat conditions like insomnia...
Insufficient Sleep and Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation is a more severe form of sleep loss...
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
RBD is significantly associated with...
Narcolepsy

