Electroencephalography (EEG) of Human Sleep: Clinical Applications

Abstract

This monograph describes the normative pattern of electroencephalographic and polygraphic physiological recording of normal human nocturnal sleep and represents work carried out in the authors' laboratory during a period of 13 years. The 6,000 recordings of several hundred subjects span the age range from the neonate to more than 70 years. Approximately two thirds of the monograph is composed of tables and figures. The authors emphasize that their studies provide a normative base for the future characterization of sleep disorders and include one chapter that discusses present concepts of disorders of sleep. With the increasing number of sleep disorder clinics in the United States, this monograph is, therefore, timely and is an important contribution to the field. Two aspects of their report represent a particularly significant contribution. The authors find a significant and consistent difference of sleep stage patterns between men and women from puberty through age 70. Women have