REM LATENCY - PSYCHOBIOLOGIC MARKER FOR PRIMARY DEPRESSIVE DISEASE

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 11  (2) , 159-179
Abstract
A consistent EEG sleep finding in depressive patients is a shortened REM [rapid eye movement] latency. With the exception of drug withdrawal states (e.g., CNS depressant or amphetamine withdrawal and narcolepsy) shortened REM latency points to a strong affective component in the patient''s illness. Short REM latency was also observed in patients with schizo-affective illness and in certain shizophrenic patients requiring tricyclic antidepressants in their management. This psychobiologic marker is a persistent, rather than a transient phenomenon, and is observed over a period of several weeks unless a patient''s condition becomes more favorable through clinical intervention. Short REM latency is found in virtually all primary depressive illness and is absent in secondary depression. REM latency appears to be a dependable, measurable marker for diagnosing primary depression, and the phenomenon is independent of age, drug effect and changes in other sleep parameters. EEG sleep and motor measurements can yield further significant data and improve differential diagnosis in psychiatry.

This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit: