Frontiers in Pharmacology
December 3, 2020
Daniela Dudysová, Karolína Janků, Michal Šmotek et al.
37 citations
Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic with antidepressant potential, altered sleep architecture in healthy volunteers the night after administration. In a randomized, double-blinded trial, 20 healthy adults (10 women, ages 28–53) received psilocybin or placebo. Psilocybin prolonged REM sleep latency and showed a trend toward reduced total REM sleep duration, with no changes in NREM sleep or whole-night EEG power spectra. Contrary to expectations, psilocybin suppressed slow-wave activity in the first sleep cycle, providing no evidence for sleep-related neuroplasticity. The findings suggest that psilocybin's antidepressant properties may involve sleep changes, possibly through different mechanisms than those of classical antidepressants.
Journal of Sleep Research
June 1, 2021
Monika Kliková, Brian A Sharpless, Jitka Bušková
17 citations
About 23% of people with recurrent sleep paralysis report pleasant episodes, though these often include some fear. Pleasant episodes are more likely to involve illusory body movements (vestibular-motor sensations), and some individuals can intentionally induce these hallucinations. The ability to lucid dream and higher openness to new experiences are associated with pleasant episodes. Lower trauma symptoms or higher life satisfaction did not predict pleasant sleep paralysis.
Frontiers in Neuroanatomy
January 1, 2024
Eva Miletínová, Monika Kliková, Amálie Dostalíková et al.
2 citations
Individuals with recurrent isolated sleep paralysis (RISP) show notable brain changes, including an increased cerebellar vermis height and a larger midbrain-pons junction. In a study of 20 participants (10 with RISP, average age 24.7; 10 controls, average age 26.3), MRI scans revealed these significant morphological differences, suggesting an over-compensatory mechanism in the brain's regulatory pathways. Despite these findings, no major variations in overall sleep structure were observed between the two groups, indicating that RISP may involve specific brain adaptations rather than broader sleep disturbances.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
February 8, 2024
Filip Černý, Václava Piorecká, Monika Kliková et al.
Sleep in people with recurrent isolated sleep paralysis (RISP) is disturbed even outside episodes and beyond REM sleep. Spectral analysis of full-night polysomnography recordings from 17 RISP patients and 17 controls revealed significantly higher theta power in REM and NREM 2 stages in RISP patients, with a similar trend in other stages. Alpha power showed a downward trend in deep sleep. EEG microstate analysis during NREM 3 found preserved prototypical generators but abnormal temporal dynamics, including altered transitions between microstates C and D and between A and B. The findings suggest that understanding RISP requires examining processes beyond REM, and microstate dynamics may serve as functional biomarkers.
Brain Sciences
February 18, 2023
Jitka Bušková, Eva Miletínová, Radana Králová et al.
Parasomnias—including sleepwalking, night terrors, vivid dreams, nightmares, and head explosion—increase significantly during pregnancy compared to the three months before pregnancy, then decrease after childbirth. A survey of 325 women found that sleepwalking, night terrors, vivid dreams, nightmares, and head explosion all rose during pregnancy, while sleep paralysis increased after delivery. Participants whose vivid dreams or nightmares persisted after childbirth had higher scores for depression and anxiety. Migraines, chronic pain, and pregnancy complications were also linked to more parasomnia episodes. The authors argue that non-pharmacological approaches should target these sleep disturbances and that clinicians should assess psychiatric and neurological comorbidities, especially in mothers with medical complications.
Sleep
November 12, 2021
Monika Kliková, Marek Piorecký, Eva Miletínová et al.
Recurrent isolated sleep paralysis (RISP) involves a dissociative state mixing REM sleep and wakefulness, but its causes are unclear. In a study comparing 19 people with RISP to 19 matched controls, no differences were found in REM sleep macrostructure (percentage of REM sleep and REM latency) or in REM sleep fragmentation (measured by arousal index, wakefulness, and stage shifts). However, power spectral analysis revealed higher bifrontal beta activity during REM sleep in the RISP group. This suggests a persistent trait of elevated cortical activity that may predispose individuals to recurrent episodes, without signs of greater REM sleep fragmentation.