ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 January 1998
Page Count: 6

Nocturnal Wandering and Violence: Review of a Sleep Clinic Population
Guilleminault, C
Stanford University School of Medicine, Sleep Disorders Center, CA

Leger, D
Unité de Sommeil de L'Hôtel-Dieu,

Ohayon, MM
Centre de Recherche Philippe Pinel de Montréal, Quebec

Philip, P
Laboratoire Du Sommeil, C.H.R. Bordeaux, Hopital Saint André,

(Received 7 April 1997; accepted 16 May 1997)

Abstract

Sleep consists of two complex states—NREM and REM sleep—and disturbances of the boundaries between the states of sleep and wakefulness may result in violence. We investigated our population for reports of violence associated with sleep. REM behavior disorder is rarely associated with injury to the sufferer or others. NREM sleep related nocturnal wandering associated with self-inflicted injuries has variable etiologies. In the elderly, it is associated with dementia. In young individuals, it may be associated with mesio-temporal or mesio-frontal foci and an indication of a complex partial seizure. It also may be related to abnormal alertness and is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness, micro-sleeps, and hypnagogic hallucinations in sleep disorders such as narcolepsy or sleep disordered breathing.

Keywords:
forensic science, violence, sleep, somnambulism, REM behavior disorders, excessive daytime sleepiness, hypnagogic hallucinations, slow wave sleep, sleep deprivation

Paper ID: JFS16103J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS16103J
ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.