Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: How do we decide if REM EMG activity is excessive?

The diagnosis of REM sleep behavior disorder needs, in addition to dream enactment behavior, a determination that EMG activity is excessive during REM sleep.  But what is excessive?  In this podcast, we discuss how a practicing polysomnographer can make this determination.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: Discussing the diagnosis and the ethics of disclosure

Should we tell patients with dream enactment behaviors of their risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or related disorders? And, if so, how should a health care provider deliver this information? In this podcast, we explore ethics and empathy.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: What factors affect risk of progression to Parkinson pathology?

When we diagnose REM sleep behavior disorder, we know that there is a risk of the development of Parkinson's disease or related conditions. But how great is the risk?  In this podcast, we discuss how a healthcare provider can help estimate a patient’s risk with specific questions and examination findings.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: How near are we to preventing Parkinson’s Disease?

In the last two podcasts, we discussed how REM sleep behavior disorder can evolve to Parkinson's disease or related conditions and whether we can test for this risk.  In this podcast, we explore the current state of the art in developing possible interventions to prevent this progression.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: Can we test for Parkinson pathology?

There has been dramatic progress in developing specific tests for disorders such as Alzheimer disease.  In this podcast, we ask whether we are now at a point when we can (or should) test for Parkinson pathology in patients with dream enactment behaviors.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: How does Parkinson pathology evolve?

Probably the most concerning aspect of REM sleep behavior disorder is that it is often a prodrome for Parkinson's disease and other related conditions.  In this podcast we explore current concepts of how dream enactment behaviors can progress to serious neurodegenerative disorders.

Violence in Sleep: Part 2

While extremely rare, homicidal behavior has been reported during episodes of sleepwalking.  In this podcast, we discuss two notorious cases for which sleepwalking was offered by the defense as an explanation.  Is that what really happened?  What role should sleep providers play in such cases?

Violence in Sleep: Part 1

Violent and injurious behaviors do occasionally occur with parasomnias including REM sleep behavior disorder and sleepwalking.  In this podcast, we review the types of behaviors that can occur and how best to prevent them.