Summary
Objectives: Sleep stage transitions constitute one of the key components of the dynamical aspect
of sleep. However, neural mechanisms of sleep stage transitions have not, to date,
been fully elucidated. We investigate the effects of administrating risperi-done,
a central serotonergic and dopaminergic antagonist, on sleep stage transitions inhumans,
and also on ultradian rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep rhythms.
Methods: Ten healthy young male volunteers (age: 22 ± 3.7 years) participated in this study.
The subjects spent three nights in a sleep laboratory. The first was the adaptation
night, and the second was the baseline night. On the third night, the subjects received
risperidone (1 mg tablet) 30 min before the polysomnography recording. We measured
and investigated transition probabilities between waking, REM and non-REM (stages
I–IV) sleep stages.
Results: We found that the probability of transition from stage II to stage III was significantly
greater for the risperidone night than for the baseline night. We also found that
risperidone administration prolonged REM-onset intervals, when compared to the baseline
night.
Conclusions: We demonstrate that central serotonergic and /or dopaminergic neural transmissions
are involved in the regulation of sleep stage transitions from light (stage II) to
deep (stage III) sleep, and also in determining ultradian REM sleep rhythms.
Keywords
Dopamine - REM-onset interval - risperidone - serotonin - sleep stage transitions
