A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF EEG SLEEP IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Several abnormalities in sleep architecture have been described in sch izophrenia. However, the question of whether sleep electroencephalogra phic (EEG) changes are influenced by treatment and phase of illness re mains unclear. To examine the longitudinal stability of sleep data, we compared baseline sleep measures with measures obtained approximately 4 weeks and 1 year after the beginning of treatment in a series of sc hizophrenic patients. At the 4-week assessment, sleep continuity measu res improved significantly; a modest increase in rapid eye movement (R EM) latency was seen, but no other changes were found in sleep archite cture. At the I-year assessment, REM latency, REM time, and average au tomated REM counts increased. No significant changes were seen for slo w-wave sleep (SWS) parameters at 1-year follow-up. These findings sugg est that SWS parameters are relatively stable during follow-up, while REM parameters seem to change, perhaps in relation to phase of illness and treatment. SWS alterations may, at least in part, reflect more in variant, perhaps trait-related alterations in schizophrenia.