Vaginal pulse amplitude response patterns during erotic conditions and sleep.

Vaginal photoplethysmography has been used to investigate sexual arousal response patterns in small samples of sexually functional and dysfunctional women, but selection of subjects for these studies has not been of a standardized nature. In the present study, two groups of women, who placed in either the upper or lower percentile ranks on the Sexual Arousal Inventory (Hoon et al., 1976a), were compared on a physiological measure of sexual arousal, vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA), during both waking erotic conditions and sleep. As hypothesized, no differences in VPA were found between groups during either waking or sleeping conditions. Contrary to expectation, groups also did not differ on subjective ratings of their laboratory arousal. With both groups combined, differences in VPA levels were evident between baseline and erotic conditions. Similarly, VPA levels differed between stages of sleep, with highest levels observed during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. These findings suggest that self-reported low arousability is not based on lack of physiological response and that retrospective, self-report measures of sexual arousability differ in important ways from subjective and physiological measures of sexual arousal in the laboratory. In order to adequately assess sexual arousability, future researchers must either devise laboratory conditions that more closely resemble erotic stimuli occurring in subjects' natural environments or validate physiological measures of arousal in nonlaboratory settings. Finally, the nocturnal evaluation of VPA seems potentially useful for cases in which organic factors may be contributing to sexual dysfunction.

Extended sleep (hypersomnia) in young depressed patients.

To test the hypothesis that young depressed patients have prolonged rather than shortened sleep, 14 depressed patients aged 17-25 and age-matched normal control subjects were allowed to sleep as long as they wanted. All subjects increased their sleep over baseline values, but the extended sleep period of the depressed patients was almost twice as long as that of the control subjects. The distribution of sleep stages in the extended period did not differ. The depressed patients had changes in the length of REM periods similar to those of older subjects. The findings suggest an interaction between age, sleep, and depression.

Comparative toxicity of amantadine hydrochloride and rimantadine hydrochloride in healthy adults.

The relative toxicities of amantadine and rimantadine were compared in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving healthy adults. In separate studies, drugs were administered at a dosage of 200 mg/day (52 volunteers) or 300 mg/day (196 volunteers) for 4.5 days. Both drugs were well tolerated at the lower dosage. At 300 mg/day amantadine recipients had a greater frequency and severity of central nervous system (nervousness, lightheadedness, difficulty concentrating) and sleep (insomnia, fatigue) complaints compared with rimantadine or placebo recipients. Amantadine recipients also performed less well on an objective test measuring sustained attention and problem-solving ability. Both amantadine and rimantadine recipients reported adverse gastrointestinal symptoms more often than placebo recipients. Because of better tolerance at higher dosage, rimantadine offers more promise than amantadine for treatment of influenza A virus infections.

Electrographic analysis of the sleep cycle in young depressed patients.

Electrographic (EEG) patterns of nocturnal sleep were investigated in young psychiatric patients during unipolar depressive episodes. EEG-sleep data was recorded in 20 non-psychotic depressed patients all under 26 years old individually matched with a normal control group. All 20 subjects slept in the laboratory for 1-3 consecutive baseline nights from 12-8:00 a.m. During a subsequent extended condition 14 in each group were allowed to sleep ad-lib. Although the mean total time asleep on baseline nights was about the same between groups (greater than 7.1 hr), the depressives had a statistically significant reduction in REM time, increased transitions into stage 1, but most especially averaged: (a) less stage 4; and (b) more stage 1. Compared with the prior eight-hour night 27/28 subjects among both groups exhibited elevated time asleep during the extended condition, but the patients' mean total 10.3 hr sleep was significantly greater by 1.5 hr than the controls (X = 8.8 hr). Sleep exceeding 9 hr on the ad-lib night was a consistent phenomenon which occurred in significantly more (11/14) young depressed patients contrasted to 4/14 control subjects. These findings indicate that young persons with primary affective disorders do not exhibit nocturnal EEG disturbances of comparable severity to most older depressed patients such as reduced time asleep, increased wakefulness or lowered slow-wave (stages 3 and 4) sleep. Although no direct evidence of symptomatic 'hypersomnia' in these patients was provided, the present results demonstrated that some young persons with clinical depression have the capacity to sleep for sustained periods.