Key result
Parkinson's disease linked to ~50% lower arousal frequency and altered heart rate patterns vs controls.
Why the study?
The effects of partial neuronal loss in arousal-promoting structures on arousability in Parkinson's disease had not yet been studied.
Does Parkinson's disease alter event-related cortical arousals and heart rate response during sleep compared to matched controls?
Case-Control (n=140)
Does Parkinson's disease alter event-related cortical arousals and heart rate response during sleep compared to matched controls?
Absolute Event Rate: 9.1% vs 18.6%
p-value: p=< 0.001
Parkinson's disease is associated with attenuated cortical arousability and prolonged normalization of heart rate following arousals during sleep.
Supports investigation of sleep microstructure in Parkinson's; hypothesis-generating for autonomic links and requires prospective validation before clinical use.
OBJECTIVES: In Parkinson's disease (PD), partial neuronal loss occurs in several arousal-promoting structures, but the effects on arousability have not yet been studied. METHODS: Polysomnographic analysis of 70 PD patients and 70 control subjects matched for age, sex, body mass index, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), and periodic limb movements in sleep index (PLMSI). RESULTS: In PD patients, arousal frequency was diminished by 50% compared with controls (9.1 ± 7.6 vs. 18.6 ± 22.9/h; P < 0.001), and the correlations with AHI (rho = 0.266 vs. 0.503, P = 0.004) and PLMSI (rho = 0.082 vs. 0.354, P = 0.006) were weaker. Hoehn & Yahr stage was an independent negative predictor of arousal index (β = -0.297, P = 0.015). Normalization of heart rate increase after cortical arousals was prolonged in PD patients compared with controls (P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the neurodegenerative process in PD is associated with an attenuated arousability to respiratory and motor events, and with an alteration of the heart rate pattern accompanying arousals.
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Sommerauer et al. (2015) conducted a case-control in Parkinson's disease (n=140). Parkinson's disease vs. Matched control subjects was evaluated on Arousal frequency (per hour) (p=< 0.001). Parkinson's disease was associated with a 50% reduction in arousal frequency compared with matched controls (9.1 vs. 18.6/h; P < 0.001) and altered heart rate patterns accompanying arousals.
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