10.4 Narcolepsy

Question 1

What is narcolepsy?

Answer 1

An unusual disorder in which the person is afflicted by frequent, intense attacks of sleep that last 5–30 minutes and can occur at any time during usual waking hours, every 90 minutes

Question 2

What is cataplexy?

Answer 2

A sudden loss of muscle tone, leading to collapse of the body without loss of consciousness

Question 3

What do narcoleptic dogs have a mutant gene for?

Answer 3

The hypocretin receptor

Question 4

What does hypocretin prevent?

Answer 4

It prevents the transition from wakefulness directly into REM sleep

Question 5

What happens when you interfere with hypocretin signaling

Answer 5

It leads to narcolepsy-related symptoms

Question 6

What is orexin

Answer 6

A neuroleptics produced in the hypothalamus that is involved in switching between sleep states in narcolepsy and control of appetite; aka hypocretin

Question 7

Where does Orexin neurons in the hypothalamus project to other sleep system centers?

Answer 7

• The basal
  
  • Forebrain
  • The reticular formation,
  • Subcoeruleus

Question 8

What does the orexin switch in the hypothalamus determine?

Answer 8

Wakefulness, non-REM sleep, or REM sleep

Question 9

What do axons in the tuberomamillary nucleus induce?

Answer 9

SWS

Question 10

How much percentage of orexin neurons have people with narcolepsy lost?

Answer 10

90%

Question 11

What is sleep paralysis?

Answer 11

The temporary inability to move or talk either just before dropping off to sleep or, more often, just after waking; never last more than a few minutes

Question 12

The pontine center

Answer 12

Hypothesis that sleep paralysis results when the pontine center continues to impose paralysis for a short while after a person awakes from a rem episode

Question 13

Sleep disorders in children

Answer 13

Night terrors and sleep enuresis (bed-wetting)
Somnambulism (sleepwalking); occurs during stage 3 SWS; can persist into adulthood

Question 14

What is REM Behavior Disorder?

Answer 14

organized behavior—such as fighting an imaginary foe, eating a meal, or acting like a wild animal—by a person who appears to be asleep

Question 15

Characteristics of REM Behavior Disorder

Answer 15

• Begins after the age of 50
• More common in Men than Women
• This may be followed by early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and dementia
  
  • Suggests the widespread damage of these diseases begins in the brainstem region that imposes muscle atonia

Question 16

What is sleep-onset insomnia?

Answer 16

• Difficulty in falling asleep
  
  • can be caused by situational factors, such as shift work or jet lag

Question 17

What is sleep-maintenance insomnia?

Answer 17

• Difficulty in staying asleep
  
  • May be caused by drugs or neurological and psychiatric factors.
• Especially evident in respiratory disorders

Question 18

Commonalities of Insomnia

Answer 18

• more commonly reported by older people, females, and users of drugs like tobacco, caffeine, and alcohol
• prevalence ranges from 10% to 40% of the adult population

Question 19

What is sleep apnea?

Answer 19

Breathing may stop or slow down when muscles in the chest and diaphragm relax too much or from changes in the pacemaker respiratory neurons in the brainstem

Question 20

Characteristics of sleep apnea

Answer 20

• Common in obese people
  
  • Frequently accompanied by loud, interrupted snoring

Question 21

What is sleep state misperception?

Answer 21

When people report they haven’t slept even when EEG indicates that they have

Question 22

What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?

Answer 22

• The sudden, unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant who stops breathing, usually during sleep
• Arises from sleep apnea due to immature respiratory pacemaker systems or arousal mechanisms
• Putting babies to sleep on their backs has cut the incidence of SIDS almost in half.

Question 23

What do sleeping pills bind to?

Answer 23

GABA receptors throughout the brain

Question 24

What do sleeping pills do?

Answer 24

*Produce marked changes in sleep patterns that persist for days after use
* Become ineffective over time
* Can lead to daytime drowsiness and memory gaps
* Behavioral methods support healthy sleep; sleeping pills do not