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Biomedical subjects

M B Sterman

Publications and source records attributed to M B Sterman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Effects of systemic atropine sulfate administration on the frequency content of the cat sensorimotor EEG during sleep and waking.

Sensorimotor electroencephalogram (EEG) frequencies in cats were evaluated with power spectral analysis before and after 3 doses of atropine sulfate. All doses of atropine tested caused enhanced EEG slow waves (0-7 Hz) and spindles (8-15 Hz) during waking immobility, and postdrug frequency profiles during slow-wave sleep and waking immobility were identical. With 0.75 mg/kg atropine, movement (head movement, locomotion) resulted in EEG desynchronization and reduced power in all frequencies less than 24 Hz. After 1.5 or 3.0 mg/kg atropine, power in low frequencies remained elevated during movement, but power in spindle frequencies was significantly reduced compared with other states. During active REM sleep after 1.5 mg/kg atropine, power in spindle frequencies was significantly lower than that during quiet REM sleep. These results indicate that the sensorimotor cortical EEG in cats is under the control of multiple systems. At least 1 of these systems is active during movement, and its actions are resistant to muscarinic receptor blockade.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Sleep research.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Future perspectives for applied psychophysiology and biofeedback.

Current circumstances in both the health science and health care delivery systems in our country have created serious problems for health professionals, particularly for those of us in the relatively young field of biofeedback. At the same time, recent and emerging developments in the neurosciences and in technologies for biological measurement offer exciting new opportunities for the applied psychophysiology upon which our field is based. Examples of these developments include the elucidation of potential neurophysiological mechanisms that may mediate the psychophysiology of immune system responses, and technical achievements leading to on-line, noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging of brain neurochemistry. The issue of perspective is raised in relation to our response to both the challenge and the opportunities of our times.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗
PubMed1989

Polysomnographic sleep and waking states are similar in subsequent siblings of SIDS and control infants during the first six months of life.

Twenty-five subsequent siblings of infants who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) underwent 12-h overnight polygraphic recordings during the first week of life and at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 months of age. The polygraphic tracings from these infants were compared with those from 25 infants without a family history of SIDS. One dozen sleep and waking parameters were examined including state transition probabilities, the ratio between quiet sleep (QS) and active sleep (AS), the incidence and duration of sustained states and the stability of an infant's sleep and waking during the first half year of life. Variability within and between infants was marked with a reduction of variability in measures of QS at 3 months and of AS at 4 months of age. The similarities between subsequent siblings of SIDS and control infants far outweighted the differences. However, subsequent siblings exhibited a tendency, once asleep, to remain asleep longer than controls. This finding was observed in a comparison of 20 infants in each group. When five infants were added to each group, infants in both groups tended to awaken equally from QS, but once in AS the subsequent siblings tended to proceed into QS instead of awaken as the controls did.

Arousal↗
PubMed1988

Sleep and waking states in infancy: normative studies.

Twelve-hour polygraphic recordings were obtained in 20 normal healthy term infants at 1 week of age, at monthly intervals up to 4 months, and at 6 months of age. Each minute of these recordings was coded into active sleep (AS), quiet sleep (QS), wakefulness (AW), or indeterminate (IN) based on polygraphic and behavioral variables. For each state, a dozen variables were computed with the help of a laboratory computer. Together these variables describe trends in the development of sleep and wakefulness in the laboratory: an increase in QS and a concomitant decrease in AS, an increase in sustained episodes of these states, and continuous sleep onset in AS throughout this time span. Considerable variability appears to characterize immature sleep patterns, but a reduction in variability was noted between 3 and 4 months of age. The number of sustained sleep-state episodes and the percentage of AS and IN proved to be stable characteristics of individual infants. The large variability among and within infants sheds doubt on the usefulness of polygraphic monitoring of sleep states for early detection of abnormalities.

Child Development↗
PubMed1984

Sleep disruption with basal forebrain lesions decreases latency to amygdala kindling in cats.

Sleep deprivation enhances seizure susceptibility in experimental and human epilepsies. Because sleep abnormalities are also common in these populations, a possible explanation for this close association is that sleep deprivation activates seizures by enhancing existing sleep disturbances. The present experiment examined this hypothesis by comparing sleep-waking state percentages and the number of after-discharge-eliciting stimulations required to induce generalized tonic-clonic convulsions with the amygdala kindling model of epilepsy in 3 groups of cats (n = 5 each). One group consisted of experimental subjects who received bilateral lesions of the basal forebrain, a preoptic area long implicated in the generation of normal sleep state characteristics. A second group sustained unilateral lesions of the basal forebrain area. Since only bilateral destruction of this region produces sleep-waking cycle abnormalities, this group provided a lesion control. Finally, a third group had no lesion and provided a control which allowed normative assessment of sleep state patterns and seizure susceptibility in otherwise unmanipulated cats. The results were: cats without lesions showed a parallel development of seizure and sleep disorders, the latter indexed by progressive SWS and REM sleep deficits; cats with unilateral lesions showed identical trends in the development of sleep and seizure anomalies; and cats with bilateral lesions of basal forebrain displayed similar but more severe sleep disturbances than those evidenced by control subjects and also required fewer after-discharge stimulations to establish kindled convulsions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amygdala↗
PubMed1984

Hemisphere-specific deficits on cognitive/perceptual tasks following REM sleep deprivation.

Current research and theory support the position that there are diurnal changes in the relative functional dominance of the hemispheres in the "normal" population. In one example of this position, Bakan (1978) has stated that REM sleep allows for right hemisphere dominance with a relative absence of left hemisphere interference. The present study involved pre- and postREM deprivation visual presentation of cognitive/perceptual performance tasks that had previously been demonstrated to have lateralizing value. Ten right-handed adult males each spent three nights in a sleep laboratory completing these tasks and a variety of questionnaires. After REM deprivation, performance decreased on right hemisphere tasks presented to the right hemisphere first. However, left-hemisphere-first presentation of one of the right hemisphere tasks (facial recognition) actually resulted in performance improvement after REM deprivation. This improvement was attributed to a suppression or diminution of capacity of the primary processing style of the left hemisphere. Results are further discussed in terms of Bakan's theory, the different processing "styles" of the two hemispheres, possible functions of REM and relationships of the biological cycles to possible shifts in cerebral laterality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Changes in circadian sleep and waking patterns after somatosensory deafferentation in the cat.

The present study describes changes in circadian state pattern organization associated with somatosensory deafferentation in the adult cat. Nine animals, implanted for chronic monitoring of standard sleep state variables, were divided into 3 groups for study. Six cats received dorsal column transections at either a high (C1-C3, N = 3) or low (C5-T1, N = 3) cervical level. The remaining three served as intact controls. State evaluations of continuous 24 h polygraphic recordings disclosed a significant facilitation of alert waking and a suppression of slow wave sleep in animals with high cervical lesions; REM sleep was not affected. State pattern percentages for animals with low cervical lesions were comparable to those of intact controls; however, lesioned animals of both experimental groups showed changes in the frequency of occurrence and duration of individual sleep/wake episodes. These findings were interpreted in terms of the enhancement of intrinsic rhythmic discharge patterns over ventrobasal thalamocortical pathways.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1983

Baseline studies and anticonvulsant drug effects on the sleep EEG power spectral profile.

This study explored a new approach to the application of electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectral analysis in the search for an objective, quantitative evaluation of anticonvulsant drug effects on the primate central nervous system. Standardized EEG samples were drawn from the slow wave sleep state. Four rhesus monkeys were adapted to restraining chairs and to prolonged recording in an isolation cubicle. Surgically placed, permanent electrodes provided for the monitoring of sleep-waking states and of bipolar frontal, central and occipital EEG traces. Baseline spectral density data were drawn from standard successive and spaced recording nights, and from post-intramuscular saline injection recording nights. These were compared with identical data drawn 1.5-2.5 h after a single, acute intramuscular administration of 5 compounds, including: diazepam, carbamazepine, valproic acid, phenobarbital and pentobarbital, the latter providing a non-anticonvulsant control. All dose values were low relative to clinical norms, as confirmed by serum samples drawn after EEG samples. Baseline measures showed stability across all non-drug test conditions, particularly those derived from somatosensory cortex. Identical post-drug power spectral changes indicated a unique and significant attenuation of 4-7 c/sec activity bilaterally in somatosensory cortex for all test compounds except pentobarbital, when compared to saline values. Since pentobarbital has only weak anticonvulsant actions, these data suggest a common effect of anticonvulsant drugs on central cortical EEG substrates. Other neurophysiological findings are reviewed which suggest that this effect may stem from an altered cortical response to intrinsic somatosensory thalamo-cortical afferent discharge in sleep, resulting from reduced neuronal excitability.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Developmental comparison of sleep EEG power spectral patterns in infants at low and high risk for sudden death.

Power spectral density measured from central cortical EEG recordings during sleep was compared in two groups of 20 infants each at intervals between 1 week and 6 months of age. One group consisted of siblings of infants who had previously died of the sudden infant death syndrome, as determined by history and autopsy report (sibling group). The second group was made up of age, sex, and socioeconomically matched infants with no familial history of sudden infant death (control group).

Age Factors↗
PubMed1982

Recent developments in the diagnosis and therapy of epilepsy.

Recent advances in the diagnosis of epilepsy include the development of a clinically useful classification of epileptic seizures and the recognition of specific epileptic disorders. These advances have been aided by the advent of x-ray computed tomography, long-term electroencephalographic telemetry, and video monitoring. Techniques for functional imaging of the human brain promise even greater diagnostic capabilities. New antiepileptic drugs have improved medical management, and technical and theoretical advances in pharmacokinetics have permitted physicians to design balanced dosing for individual patients. Although currently underused, surgical treatment of partial complex epilepsy can be safe and effective when used appropriately. Operant conditioning of electroencephalography may become another practical alternative therapy. Contributions of basic research to understanding the complications of status epilepticus have influenced treatment protocols and greatly improved the prognosis of this potentially lethal condition.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1980

Effect of amphetamine and pentobarbital on sleep-wake patterns of cats with basal forebrain lesions.

The effects of amphetamine and pentobarbital upon electrographic state were studied in naive cats and cats with forebrain lesions that induce insomnia. Amphetamine increased alertness and decreased both slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep states for up to 12 h in both intact animals and cats with lesions. Pentobarbital inhibited REM sleep and alert states while increasing SWS and drowsy states in naive cats. The effect was mainly restricted to the first 8 h. In cats with forebrain lesions, the effects were similar except that the amount of REM sleep was significantly elevated. During a portion of the first 8 h, the tracing cannot be distinguished from a normal control sample. It is hypothesized that pentobarbital mimics the normal inhibitory influence of the intact forebrain and either induces or facilitates 'normal' sleep patterns in cats with forebrain lesions.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1980

Quantitative analysis of training, sleep EEG and clinical response to EEG operant conditioning in epileptics.

This report is a follow-up to a previous paper which described seizure rate changes with central cortical EEG feedback training in 8 poorly controlled epileptic subjects. Data examined here include associated training compliance and performance, sleep EEG spectra, clinical EEG and anticonvulsant blood levels. The study employed a double-cross-over, single blind ABA design applied to two subgroups of epileptic patients. Both groups had in common two training periods (A1, A2) in which either 12--15 c/sec (subgroup I, n = 4) or 18--23 c/sec (subgroup II, n = 4) was reinforced in the absence of 6--9 c/sec, movement or epileptiform discharge, and one training period (B) in which 6--9 c/sec was reinforced in the absence of 12--15 or 18--23 c/sec as well as movement and epileptiform discharge. Training periods occurred primarily in the home and lasted 3 months. Compliance with training instructions and response acquisition were demonstrated. Overall anticonvulsant blood levels were low and unrelated to EEG or seizure changes. Clinical EEG findings corresponded to sleep EEG and seizure rate outcomes. Power spectral analysis of sampled non-REM sleep from all-night EEG recordings obtained after each training phase indicated contingency specific changes which were limited to sensorimotor recordings in subgroup I and corresponded to the pattern of seizure rate changes in this group. EEG changes were also limited to sensorimotor cortex in subgroup II, but were linear and paralleled a progressive decrease in seizure rate. Both groups, however, showed the same pattern of EEG changes with seizure reductions; low and high frequencies were reduced and intermediate, rhythmic frequencies increased. Correlational analysis confirmed this relationship. The pattern, duration and topographic specificity of these changes suggested a normalization of sensorimotor EEG substrates related to the EEG feedback traning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Changes in seizure susceptibility, sleep time and sleep spindles following thalamic and cerebellar lesions.

The present experiment attempted to clarify conflicting evidence on the relationship of sleep spindles to seizure activation. Seizure thresholds were calculated in minutes post-injection following IP administration of the convulsant drug monomethylhydrazine (MMH) to cats with lesions intended to alter the occurrence of spontaneous 12-15 c/sec sleep spindles recorded from sensorimotor cortex. Twelve cats with bilateral cortical and subcortical recording electrodes were divided into 3 groups receiving electrolytic lesions in the dentate nucleus (group I), the ventrobasal (VB) thalamus (group II), or in one of various 'control' regions (group III). Lesion sites in group III animals avoided primary afferent pathways to VB thalamus, destruction of which has been found to enhance sleep spindle activity, and included cerebellar white matter and ventral pontine tegmentum. Prior to the MMH trials, baseline EEGs were obtained during pre- and post-lesion conditions. Following the MMH trial, lesions were verified histologically. Results of the MMH trial revealed that animals with dentate and ventrobasal thalamic lesions showed elevated seizure thresholds and slow wave sleep times relative to their own pre-lesion EEG baselines and to the pre- and post-lesion baselines of control animals. Furthermore, an increased incidence of sleep spindles was associated with dentate lesions while animals with ventrobasal thalamic lesions showed a shift in frequency from 8-11 c/sec to 12-15 c/sec activity during that state. These findings are compatible with the view that sleep spindles do not facilitate seizure activation and may, in fact, exert a protective influence.

Animals↗