Sleep and vegetative systems

Physiological changes of autonomic nervous system occur during non-rapid-ey e-movement (NREM) and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. This changes include typical variations in the respiratory or cardiovascular system respiratory rate, heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure), electrodermal ac tivity, sexual functions, thermoregulation, pupillomotoric and cerebral blo od flow. Description and explanation of changes of all these autonomic func tions in different sleep-stages permit understanding of pathophysiology of many neurological discorders or disturbances of sleep. In every chapter the re are examples of patients with autonomic dysfunction in sleep as sleep-ap nea-syndrome, stroke, Parkinson's syndrome or multiple system atrophy (MSA) .