Dretske’s invocation of necessary conditions from communication theory in the characterization of mental process serves as a basis for deriving Hobson’s AIM treatment of the sleep/wake cycle from Baars’ Global Workspace model. One implication of the analysis is that certain sleep disorders may be recognizably similar to many other chronic, developmental dysfunctions, including autoimmune and co...

Sleep specialists are frequently referred adults with epilepsy to evaluate their sleep/wake complaints, sometimes to determine whether their paroxysmal nocturnal behaviors are epileptic or not. Many patients with epilepsy have at least one parasomnia (some more than one), and the sleep specialists are often asked to differentiate and treat these. Sleep specialists review which primary sleep dis...

BACKGROUND A need exists, from both a clinical and a research standpoint, for objective sleep measurement systems that are both easy to use and can accurately assess sleep and wake. This study evaluates the output of an automated sleep-wake detection algorithm (Z-ALG) used in the Zmachine (a portable, single-channel, electroencephalographic [EEG] acquisition and analysis system) against laborat...

INTRODUCTION Electronic devices in the bedroom are broadly linked with poor sleep in adolescents. This study investigated whether there is a dose-response relationship between use of electronic devices (computers, cellphones, televisions and radios) in bed prior to sleep and adolescent sleep patterns. METHODS Adolescents aged 11-17 yrs (n = 1,184; 67.6% female) completed an Australia-wide int...

Bipolar spectrum disorders (BP) occur in up to 1% of youth and are associated with significant impairment. Individuals with BP are often characterized by a decreased need for sleep or dysregulated sleep-wake schedules. For children, such sleep problems often relate to impairment in school and social functioning. Thus, sleep is an especially important target of intervention for youth with BP bec...

The pineal hormone melatonin plays a major role in circadian sleep-wake rhythm. Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), especially those who are on hemodialysis, frequently suffer from sleep disturbances. In this review an overview is given of the classification of stages of chronic kidney disease, followed by a presentation of the circadian rhythm disorders in renal disease involving sleep...

Nocturnal asthma (NA) is increasing in prevalence, affecting millions of people worldwide. In addition to being associated with increased mortality, NA is associated with a decreased quality of life. NA associated sleep disturbances and increased daytime sleepiness are especially important in children due to the accompanying behavioral and developmental difficulties. As diurnal spirometry is no...

The circadian sleep-wake rhythm changes with aging, resulting in a more fragmented sleep-wake pattern. In individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), brain structures regulating the sleep-wake rhythm might be affected. The aims of this study were to compare the sleep-wake rhythm of older adults with ID to that of older adults in the general population, and to investigate which factors are ...

INTRODUCTION Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is frequently associated with neurological disorders unrelated to neurofibromas, including sleep disorders. OBJECTIVES This article reviews the prevalence of sleep disorders in patients with NF1, compares rates to data reported in the literature, and analyses the relationship between cognitive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (A...