BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The aims of this study were to elucidate the cognitive functions of narcoleptics and determine whether intelligence protects against cognitive dysfunction and depressive mood in these patients. METHODS Sixty-six subjects (33 narcoleptics, 33 controls) were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests and an individual standardized intelligence test. The cognitive ...

The amygdala plays an important role in the interpretation of emotionally significant stimuli and has strong projections to brainstem regions regulating muscle tone and sleep. Cataplexy, a symptom of narcolepsy, is a loss of muscle tone usually triggered by sudden, strong emotions. Extracellular single-unit recordings were carried out in the amygdala of narcoleptic dogs to test the hypothesis t...

tors. In contrast, prazosin, which blocks a1 noradrenerTwo recent papers have linked narcolepsy to dysfuncgic receptors, greatly exacerbates cataplexy in both tion of the newly discovered hypocretin (Hcrt) (orexin) dogs and humans. Cholinergic agonists and the cholinpeptide system. The paper by Lin et al. (1999 [previous esterase blocker physostigmine also exacerbate cataissue of Cell]) examine...

the endeavor of this research is to design and build a portable assistive device for narcolepsy patients to help them have more comfortable and productive life. A narcoleptic person suffers from a brain disorder that causes uncontrolled sleepiness. The device provides real time monitoring and assessment of the patient’s sleep and alertness conditions round the clock. An artificial intelligence ...

Since the finding in 1983 that narcolepsy-cataplexy has a strong genetic association with a particular HLA class II haplotype, it has been hypothesized that most sporadic cases result from autoimmunity. Recent evidence indicates that the disease results from the death of the small number of hypocretin (hcrt)-producing cells in the lateral hypothalamus, strongly suggesting that an autoimmune att...

Narcolepsy is a disabling sleep disorder affecting humans and animals. It is characterized by daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, and striking transitions from wakefulness into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. In this study, we used positional cloning to identify an autosomal recessive mutation responsible for this sleep disorder in a well-established canine model. We have determined that canine narc...

THE ABNORMAL REGULATION OF RAPID-EYE-MOVEMENT (REM) SLEEP IS A CENTRAL COMPONENT IN THE SYMPTOMATOLOGY OF NARCOLEPSY.1-3 The REM sleep often occurs at sleep onset, and many patients experience intrusive features of REM, such as muscle paralysis and hallucinations during wake-sleep transitions. Among the most striking behavior symptoms of narcolepsy is the triggering of the muscle paralysis of R...

We describe the case of a 34-year-old man who presented intermittent faecal incontinence as a manifestation of cataplexy. The patient's sleep history was positive for the full narcoleptic tetrad (sleep attacks, cataplexy, sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations) while extensive neuropsychiatric work up was negative for any neurologic or psychiatric illness. Repeat polysomnograms (includin...