Summary
A severely brain-damaged boy of 12 years had a prolonged sleep-wakefulness cycle of 10–15 days' duration. His body temperature followed a circadian rhythm, suggesting that some normal circadian oscillators were intact. The long sleep-wakefulness cycle could not be influenced by either methylphenidate administration or enforced wakefulness, which suggests that the cycle did not have the same properties as other rhythms, and the 10–15-day periods of sleep-wakefulness were probably controlled by mechanisms different from those operating in normal state. The case shows that there are multiple oscillating mechanisms in the control of different rhythms in humans.
Zusammenfassung
Ein zwölf Jahre alter Junge, der seit seinem achten Monat an Enzephalopathie litt, zeigte einen verlängerten Schlaf-Wach-Zyklus mit einer Dauer von 10–15 Tagen. Seine Körpertemperatur folgte dabei einem circadianen Rhythmus, aus dem geschlossen werden kann, daß einige normale circadianen Oszillatoren intakt waren.
Dieser lange Schlaf-Wach-Zyklus konnte weder durch Gaben von Methylphenydat noch durch heftiges Wecken gestört werden, woraus man schließen kann, daß der Zyklus nicht dieselben Eigenschaften besitzt wie andere Rhythmen und die 10–15-tägige Periode des Schlafens und Wachens wahrscheinlich durch Mechanismen kontrolliert werden, die sich sehr von denen unterscheiden, welche das Verhalten im Normalzustand steuern.
Das Datenmaterial belegt das Vorhandensein multipler Schwingungsrhythmen beim Menschen.
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Okawa, M., Sasaki, H., Nakajima, S. et al. Altered sleep rhythm: A patient with a 10 to 15 day cycle. J Neurol 226, 63–71 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00313319
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00313319