Mammals Go Nocturnal in Bid to Avoid Humans – The New York Times

Sleep and wakefulness in the green iguanid lizard (Iguana iguana)

Abstract

Science des rêves – un lien vers le film

Voilà le lien vers un documentaire en matière de recherche sur le rêve.
Des séquences ont été tournées au Vinatier et à Primage pendant la manip IRM-Rêve

Vers une science des rêves

Vers une science des rêves Après des années de récits de rêves, les miens et ceux des autres, j’ai finalement réalisé un documentaire scien…

Chronobiology of dry eye

The effect of individual biological rhythms on dry eye

• May 2018
• Biological Rhythm Research

• DOI:
• 10.1080/09291016.2018.1478683

• Halil İbrahim Yener
• Yavuz Selvi
• Rukiye Tekdemir

Abstract

This study aims to assess whether an individual’s chronotype (i.e. morningness versus eveningness) has an impact on tear film. Eighty-six dry eye patients not having any underlying systemic or metabolic diseases and either a morning or evening chronotype were included in the study. Tear film break-up time (BUT) and Schirmer tests are common objective tests that are used to diagnose the eye dryness. Using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), we investigated the interaction effect of chronotype x sex on insomnia, Schirmer (mm) and BUT (sec) measurements after adjusting for age. We found that the participants who were more prone to evening chronotype characteristics reported to have more severe dry eye signs which monitor with the aid of the Schirmer and tear film break-up time test. In addition, those with higher scores in insomnia severity index had lower Schirmer test and tear film break-up time scores. These findings suggest that chronobiological factors may play a crucial role in the dry eye symptom severity.

Bursts of brain activity linked to memory reactivation

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2018/may/bursts-of-brain-activity-linked-to-memory-reactivation/

EVANSTON – Leading theories propose that sleep presents an opportune time for important, new memories to become stabilized. And it’s long been known which brain waves are produced during sleep. But in a new study, researchers set out to better understand the brain mechanisms that secure memory storage.

The team from Northwestern and Princeton universities set out to find more direct and precisely timed evidence for the involvement of one particular sleep wave — known as the “sleep spindle.”

In the study, sleep spindles, described as bursts of brain activity typically lasting around one second, were linked to memory reactivation. The paper, “Sleep spindle refractoriness segregates periods of memory reactivation,” published today in the journal Current Biology.

“The most novel aspect of our study is that we found these spindles occur rhythmically — about every three to six seconds — and this rhythm is related to memory,” said James W. Antony, first author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in Princeton’s Computational Memory Lab.

Three experiments explored how recent memories are reactivated during sleep. While volunteers took an afternoon nap, sound cues were surreptitiously played. Each was linked to a specific memory. The researchers’ final experiment showed that if cues were presented at opportune times such that spindles could follow them, the linked memories were more likely to be retained. If they were presented when a spindle was unlikely to follow, the linked memories were more likely to be forgotten.

Curot (2018): Déjà-rêvé: Prior dreams induced by direct electrical brain stimulation

Abstract
Background: Epileptic patients sometimes report experiential phenomena related to a previous dream they had during seizures or electrical brain stimulation (EBS). This has been alluded to in the literature as “deja-reve” (“already dreamed”). However, there is no neuroscientific evidence to support its existence and this concept is commonly mixed up with deja-vu. We hypothesized that deja-reve would be a specific entity, i.e., different from other experiential phenomena reported in epileptic patients, induced by EBS of specific brain areas.
Methods: We collected all experiential phenomena related to dreams induced by electrical brain stimulations (EBS) in our epileptic patients (2003e2015) and in a review of the literature. The content of these deja-reve and the location of EBS were analyzed.
Results: We collected 7 deja-reve in our database and 35 from the literature, which corresponds to an estimated prevalence of 0.3‰ of all EBS-inducing deja-reve. Deja-reve is a generic term for three distinct entities: it can be the recollection of a specific dream (“episodic-like”), reminiscence of a vague dream (“familiarity-like”) or experiences in which the subject feels like they are dreaming (literally “a dreamy state”). EBS-inducing “episodic-like” and “familiarity-like” deja-reve were mostly located in the medial temporal lobes. “Dreamy states” were induced by less specific EBS areas although still related to the temporal lobes.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates that deja-reve is a heterogeneous entity that is different from deja-vu, the historical “dreamy state” definition and other experiential phenomena. This may be relevant for clinical practice as it points to temporal lobe dysfunction and could be valuable for studying the neural substrates of dreams.

Curot-2018-Deja-reve_ Prior dreams induced by.pdf

Restless Sleep Disorder in Children: A Pilot Study on a Tentative New Diagnostic Category | Sleep | Oxford Academic

Restless Sleep Disorder in Children: A Pilot Study on a Tentative New Diagnostic Category.

STUDY OBJECTIVES:

A group of children with “restless sleep” who do not fit the criteria for any other sleep disorder but with daytime impairment are studied to identify restless sleep disorder (RSD) clinically and polysomnographically and to differentiate it from other sleep disorders of childhood.

METHODS:

A pilot study of 15 school aged children with restless sleep and 15 sex and age matched children with restless leg syndrome (RLS) and 37 normal controls were included. Data obtained included nocturnal and diurnal parental concerns, iron and ferritin levels and polysomnography (PSG).

RESULTS:

15 children with RLS (12 males; 3 females), with a mean age of 11.9 (standard deviation 3.52), 15 subjects with RSD (11 males, 4 females) with a mean age of 9.5 (standard deviation 3.18), the control subjects were 30 males and 7 females; mean age was 10.6 with a standard deviation of 3.8. Age and sex did not differ between groups. Parental concerns in RSD included frequent nocturnal large body movements involving limbs, head and trunk, and restless sleep and perception of sleep disruption without nocturnal awakening. Daytime impairment included daytime sleepiness. All children with RSD had low ferritin levels (mean 20, SD 8.87). PSG data showed decreased sleep efficiency similar to RLS group but not prolonged sleep latency.

CONCLUSION:

We have characterized clinically and polysomnographically children with RSD and attempted a new diagnostic category. We also have identified an association between RDS and iron deficiency. Future larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and evaluate the natural progression of restless sleepers.