Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders: Drummond SP

Drummond SP, Smith MT, Orff HJ, Chengazi V, Perlis ML. · Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego and VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA. · Sleep Med Rev. · Pubmed #15144964 No free full text.

Abstract: Despite the growing literature indicating that insomnia is prevalent and a substantial risk factor for medical and psychiatric morbidity, the pathophysiology of both Primary and Secondary Insomnia is poorly understood. Multiple trait and state factors are thought to give rise to and/or moderate illness severity in insomnia, but 'hyperarousal' is widely believed to be the final common pathway of the disorder. To date, very little work has been undertaken using functional imaging to explore the CNS correlates, underpinnings, or consequences of hyperarousal as it occurs in Primary Insomnia. In fact, all but one of the extant studies have been of healthy good sleepers or subjects with Secondary Insomnia. In the present article, we: (1) review the studies that have been undertaken in good sleepers and in patients using functional neuroimaging methodologies, and (2) discuss how these data can inform a research agenda aimed at describing the neuropathophysiology of insomnia.

Orff HJ, Drummond SP, Nowakowski S, Perils ML. · Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. · Sleep. · Pubmed #17910392 links to  free full text

Abstract: STUDY OBJECTIVES: While daytime impairment is a defining feature of primary insomnia (PI), prior research using objective measures has not yielded clear and reliable evidence of global or specific deficits. In this investigation subjective and neuropsychological measures of daytime impairment were concurrently evaluated in subjects with primary insomnia (PIs) and in healthy good sleeper subjects (GSs). The goals for the study were to assess (1) whether PIs differ from GSs on subjective and/or objective measures and (2) the extent to which subjective and objective measures provide discordant information. DESIGN: Subjects were evaluated on multiple self-report measures of sleep and daytime performance and were administered a comprehensive set of neuropsychological tests. SETTING: The University of Rochester Sleep and Neurophysiology Research Laboratory (Rochester, NY). PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS: Forty-nine subjects (32 PIs and 17 GSs). Seventy-one percent of the sample was female; average age 39 +/- 11 yrs. RESULTS: Overall, PIs reported worse sleep, diminished activity levels, and a greater number and severity of daytime complaints. However, PIs did not show deficits on neuropsychological tests. Additionally, neuropsychological measures were not associated with severity of daytime complaints. Objectively measured sleep was found to be associated with performance (motor speed), while prospective and objective sleep measures were associated with level of daytime complaint. CONCLUSIONS: The discrepancy between subjective daytime complaints and objective performance in individuals with insomnia is common, but poorly understood. This discordance may suggest that daytime impairment corresponds less to "output" and more to attentional bias or to the realistic appraisal that "effort" is required to maintain normal performance.

Drummond SP. · Department of Psychiatry 9116A, UCSDNA San Diego HCS, 3350 LaJolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA 92161, USA. · J Clin Sleep Med. · Pubmed #17561545 No free full text.

Abstract: Insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and napping are all highly prevalent among the elderly, reflecting changes in sleep architecture, sleep efficiency, sleep quality, and circadian sleep-wake cycles. Insomnia is sometimes associated with subjective daytime sleepiness, as well as other clinical and socioeconomic consequences. The daytime sleepiness will at times lead to napping. Although napping is viewed as a common age-related occurrence, little is known about its benefits or consequences. Factors reported to be contributors to daytime napping include sleep-maintenance difficulty and sleep fragmentation with consequent daytime sleepiness, nighttime use of long-acting sedating agents, daytime use of sedating medications, and dementia. However, a correlation between sleep disturbance and daytime napping has not been consistently observed. Whether napping is beneficial, neutral, or detrimental is an important issue, in light of conflicting findings regarding the impact of daytime napping on nighttime sleep and recent reports of an association between napping and adverse clinical outcomes, including increased mortality risk. Further research is needed to determine whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship between napping and insomnia, and between napping and adverse clinical outcomes, and to explore the clinical implications of improving insomnia and reducing daytime napping. Clinical evaluations of hypnotic agents should assess efficacy for both improving insomnia symptoms (particularly sleep-maintenance difficulty, in the case of elderly patients) and reducing daytime sleepiness thatwould lead to inadvertent napping.