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Sidney Cohen, MD

JAMA. 1976;236(7):875-876.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

THE CONDITION of reduced consciousness that we call sleep is a composite of at least five distinct, incompletely understood cyclic stages. Two kinds of sleep can be easily identified: REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM. The latter is divided into four stages that range from dozing (stage I) to deepest sleep (stage IV). The electroencephalogram shows a progressive slowing and an increase in amplitude from stages I to IV. Non-REM sleep is associated with little mental or physical activity although muscle tone is retained. By contrast, REM sleep (dreaming or paradoxical sleep) is characterized by a loss of muscle tone except in the eye muscles that perform scanning movements, apparently in response to the dream content. The EEG during dreaming shows even more low-voltage, fast-wave activity (arousal) than during the waking state. Most dreaming occurs during this period, which occupies about 25% of total sleep time. Narcolepsy is usually an . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to 13020 Sky Valley Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90049 (Dr Cohen).

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