RAPID EYE-MOVEMENT SLEEP EYE-MOVEMENTS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND DEPRESSION

Objective: To investigate the specificity of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep eye movement measures in schizophrenics, depressives, and nonpsy chiatric controls. Design: Survey. Setting: inpatient psychiatric hosp ital. Study Participants: Volunteer sample of male veterans who met Re search Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for schizophrenia (n=21) or major dep ressive disorder (n=24), or male veterans recruited from the community with no history of psychiatric illness (n=13). Patients with a concur rent RDC diagnosis of alcoholism were excluded. After data collection, three schizophrenics, two depressives, and one nonpsychiatric control were eliminated because of two or fewer REM periods on either of the two recording nights. Intervention: None. Main Outcome Measure: Comput er-detected total night and within-night measures of REM sleep eye mov ement density, ie, the ratio of eye movement counts to stage REM minut es. Results: Using a 95% confidence interval, schizophrenics, depressi ves, and nonpsychiatric controls did not differ in total night or with in-night measures of eye movement density. Within nights, eye movement density increased across REM periods in the schizophrenics and nonpsy chiatric controls; the depressives showed a flatter within-night distr ibution associated with their older age. Conclusions: A broad range of REM sleep eye movement densities characterize both schizophrenics and depressives and substantially overlaps the normal range. Abnormalitie s of REM sleep eye movement activity should not be considered a biolog ical marker for affective illness.