Extreme Spindles: Correlation of Electroencephalographic Sleep Pattern with Mental Retardation

Abstract

An electroencephalographic abnormality is described which is relatively common among children below 12 years of age who are mentally retarded. This pattern consists of exaggerated sleep spindles, which are of higher voltage and more continuously present than in normal persons, and it correlates specifically with mental retardation and not with epilepsy or cerebral palsy.