Am J Psychiatry 1982; 139:1474-1476
Copyright © 1982 by American Psychiatric Association
Middle ear muscle activity during REM sleep in schizophrenic, schizoaffective and depressed patients
KL Benson and VP Zarcone Jr
The authors measured the middle ear muscle activity during REM sleep of
normal subjects (N = 13) and patients with schizophrenia (N = 11),
schizoaffective disorder (N = 8), or major depressive disorder (N = 10).
The rates of middle ear muscle activity for 5 schizophrenic patients were
higher than the highest rates of the other groups. The patients with major
depressive disorder had normal rates, and the rates of those with
schizoaffective disorder were below normal. Within the schizophrenic
patients, high middle ear muscle activity could not be directly attributed
to background sleep disturbances, age, anxiety, depression, or diagnostic
subtype.
