PhD Scientific Days 2025

Poster Session III. - M: Mental Health Sciences

Localization and Morphological Changes In NREM Parasomnias. A Systematic Review Study

Name of the presenter

Biresaw Mengesha

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Institute of behavioral sciences

Authors

Mengesha S. Biresaw¹, József Vitrai², Peter Halász³, Vivian M. Correa¹, Anna Szűcs¹

1: Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest Hungary
2: Széchenyi István University, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Győr, Hungary
3: Szentágothai Doctoral School, Semmelweis University, Budapest Hungary

Text of the abstract

Introduction: NREM parasomnias manifest different types of sleep-related activities and behaviours, likely linked to a shared mechanism and brain network, with additional involvement of specific regions in the different types. Comprehensive evidence about the localization and brain-morphological changes in NREM parasomnias, as well as the specific subtypes, is still inadequate.
AIM: This systematic review aimed to collect such data from the literature, based on neurophysiologic and imaging data.
Methods: Articles published in English between 2015 and 2024 on localization and morphological changes based on neurophysiologic and imaging studies were retrieved using the following sources: PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO. Research reports were searched between 1 and 30 June 2024. The quality of a report was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program. Relevant information from the searched research reports was extracted in Microsoft Excel. An appropriate guideline for a systematic review and meta-analysis report, i.e., PRISMA was used.
Results: Out of 6835 English language articles accessed, 16 articles met our eligibility criteria for this review. A significant increase in the spectral power of delta and theta frequency bands immediately preceding episodes and a reduction of slow activity in the cingulate-, motor and premotor/supplementary motor cortices in episodes of sleepwalking; an increase of delta activity in frontal regions before confusional arousals and during sleep-terror episodes. The EEG connectivity has been reported to enhance between the motor and cingulate cortex during arousals (beta frequency band), and also between frontal and parietal regions (alpha band). Morphologically, a single study found a decrease in grey matter volume in the left dorsal posterior cingulate and posterior mid-cingulate cortex in patients with mixed NREM parasomnias.
Conclusion: Neurophysiology and morphology studies have pointed to anterior-cingulate and frontal regions, some of them fit with clinical patterns of NREM parasomnia subtypes. However, many changes were inconsistent and contradictory. Replication studies with larger sample sizes and homogenous patient populations are necessary to confirm the generalizability of these results.
Funding: not applicable