Hypersynchronous Delta Sleep EEG Activity and Sudden Arousals from Slow-Wave Sleep in Adults Without a History of Parasomnias: Clinical and Forensic Implications

Abstract

HSD and SWS arousals were a common finding in patients without clinical histories of sleepwalking or other parasomnias but who were found to have frequent respiratory-related arousals during sleep. HSD and SWS arousals thus have a low specificity for NREM parasomnias and, without further research, are not useful for the objective confirmation of parasomnias in clinical evaluations and in the forensic evaluation of sleepwalking as a legal defense.