Sleep and dreaming disturbances in closed head injury patients

Abstract

Single night sleep recordings in closed head injury patients 6 to 59 months after injury revealed less stage 1 and a greater number of awakenings compared to age matched controls. Neither the time spent in REM sleep nor the Wechsler Memory Quotient were related to complaints of decreased or absent dreaming following injury. The proportion of REM and number of awakenings, however, showed a moderate relationship to certain behavioural problems.