ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC SLEEP IN CLINICALLY STABLE SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS - 2-WEEKS VERSUS 6-WEEKS NEUROLEPTIC-FREE

EEG sleep studies in schizophrenic patients are influenced by alterati ons in clinical state and medication status. The current study defines longitudinal alterations in electroencephalographic (EEG) sleep for 1 0 healthy men who were schizophrenic patients who remained relatively clinically stable during a double-blind neuroleptic withdrawal study. Clinical assessments and EEG sleep studies were performed at baseline on haloperidol, and then at 2-week and 6-week drug-free periods. Sleep continuity and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep measures declined not o nly between the haloperidol baseline and 2-week drug-free conditions, but continued to decline from 2-week to 6-weeks neuroleptic-free. Alte rations in EEG sleep from the 2-week to 6-week haloperidol-free assess ment, did not correlate with changes in clinical symptoms suggesting e ffects related to drug-withdrawal or subclinical state changes. These results show that despite relative clinical stability over time, the E EG sleep of schizophrenic patients continues to change following withd rawal of a neuroleptic and is dependent on the duration of the drug-fr ee interval.