Sleep architecture changes in depression: interesting finding or clinically useful.

Abstract

1. Since the late 1970's, considerable progress in the description and quantification of EEG sleep changes in depression has been made. A consistent finding in the sleep of depressed patients is a shortening of the time from sleep onset to the appearance of the first REM period (short REM latency) suggesting that this finding might be used as a clinical test to differentiate depressed from nondepressed patients. 2. Sleep architecture changes in depression are described and factors influencing REM sleep are identified. The stability of REM sleep abnormalities and the specificity of these changes for depression are discussed. Methodological issues, which have been identified as possible contaminants affecting the reliability of research findings, are described before the author concludes with a summary of current obstacles to using polysomnography in the clinical assessment of depressed patients.