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Abstract:
The trait-like nature of electroencephalogram (EEG) is well established.
Furthermore, EEG of wake and non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep has
been shown to be highly heritable. However, the genetic effects on REM
sleep EEG microstructure are as yet unknown. REM sleep is of special
interest since animal and human data suggest a connection between REM
sleep abnormalities and the pathophysiology of psychiatric and
neurological diseases. Here we report the results of a study in
monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins examining the heritability of
REM sleep EEG. We studied the architecture, spectral composition and
phasic parameters of REM sleep and identified genetic effects on whole
investigated EEG frequency spectrum as well as phasic REM parameters
(REM density, REM activity and organization of REMs in bursts). In
addition, cluster analysis based on the morphology of the EEG frequency
spectrum revealed that the similarity among MZ twins is close to
intra-individual stability. The observed strong genetic effects on REM
sleep characteristics establish REM sleep as an important source of
endophenotypes for psychiatric and neurological diseases.
