Review of The Parasomnias and Other Sleep-Related Movement Disorders by Michael J. Thorpy and Giuseppe Plazzi

Abstract

[Author Affiliation]Argelinda Baroni. 1 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Sleep Medicine Child Study Center, New York University, Langone Medical Center, New York, New York.Stephanie O. Zandieh. 2 Department of Pediatrics, New York University, School of Medicine, New York, New York.ISBN: 978-0521111577. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 356 pages.Address correspondence to: Argelinda Baroni, MD, Leon Levy Neuroscience Fellow, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Sleep Medicine, Child Study Center, New York University, Langone Medical CenterHave you ever imagined getting rid of your in-laws once and for all? What if you awoke one morning to find that while you were asleep, you drove 14 miles to your in-laws home, bludgeoned your mother-in-law, strangled your father-in-law until he passed out, and then stabbed them both with a kitchen knife (Broughton et al. 1994) As hard as it may be to believe, these are actual real-life events. Sleep-related crimes such as this, albeit rare, do occur, and individuals who perform such acts have been acquitted based on the evidence that they were not conscious, not responsible, and, therefore, not guilty. Now, envision yourself as a 60-year-old who awakens from sleep with the daunting realization that you are punching your beloved partner of many years in the face. Moments before, you were dreaming of being attacked by a group of thugs robbing you. Lastly, picture yourself as a parent who is jolted awake by the blood-curdling screams of your 3-year-old boy. When you frantically arrive at the bedside, he is disoriented, but to your surprise, he suddenly stops screaming and returns to sleep as if nothing had happened. In the morning he has no recollection of the event. These above scenarios are examples of sleepwalking, dream enactment related to rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder (RBD), and sleep terrors, respectively, all classified as parasomnias. The book Parasomnias and Other Sleep-Related Movement Disorders, edited by Michael Thorpy and Giuseppe Plazzi, two prominent sleep researchers, gives a comprehensive review of these disorders.For individuals who experience such events, and to those closest to them, parasomnias can have profound and long-lasting consequences. Moreover, parasomnias are common disorders, especially in children, and are often associated with specific diseases as sleep apnea. Sleepwalking affects 2-5% of young adults (Ohayon et al. 1999) and RBD affects 0.4-0.5% of the general population, but is reported as high as 58% in patients with Parkinson's disease (Iranzo et al. 2009). The International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD) defines parasomnias as unpleasant or undesirable behaviors or experiences (such as nightmares) that occur predominantly or exclusively during sleep, and combines together 15 very diverse disorders such as sleepwalking, sleep terrors, RBD, nightmares, enuresis, and sleep starts (American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2001).The term parasomnia derives from the Greek prefix para meaning around and Latin somnus meaning sleep. It was coined in 1932 by the French researcher Henri Roger and contrasted with dyssomnias: disorders of sleep affecting amount or timing of sleep, such as insomnia. Although the term is recent, reports of parasomnias go as far back as the time of Hippocrates, and have been artfully utilized in literature and later in movies. For example, both Shakespeare and Cervantes afflicted some of their most prominent characters, such as Lady Macbeth and Don Quixote, with parasomnias. The first is represented during an infamous sleepwalking episode You see, her eyes are open. Ay, but their sense is shut. Don Quixote is represented while enacting his dreams of fighting unreal enemies in his sleep (Furman et al. 1997; Iranzo et al. 2004). Hitchcock used nightmares in many of his movies, and in the recent major motion thriller, Side Effect, sleepwalking was an intricate backdrop of the plot. …