EEG frequency spectrum characteristics of sleep states in infants of alcoholic mothers.

Infants of alcoholic mothers showed prominent EEG hypersynchrony in all three stages of sleep: in quiet sleep, indeterminate sleep and active-REM sleep. Spectral analysis of the EEG using fast Fourier transform revealed significant increase in power in most frequency bands in all three stages of sleep in infants born to alcoholic mothers when compared with normal healthy infants matched for gestational age. In quiet sleep "alcoholic" infants differed from healthy babies by significantly higher power in a wide range of frequency bands (1.5--17.5 Hz) with an average 143% increase of the integrated EEG (1.5--25 Hz). In indeterminate sleep "alcoholic" infants showed significantly higher power in all analyzed frequency bands (0.1--25 Hz) with an average 196% increase of the integrated EEG (1.5--25 Hz). In active-REM sleep infants of alcoholic mothers showed significantly higher power in the frequency range from 0.1 to 17.5 Hz in comparison with healthy controls. The average increase of the integrated EEG (1.5--25 Hz) was 200%. All healthy term infants showed significantly higher power in most frequency bands during quiet sleep in comparison with active-REM sleep. In infants born to alcoholic mothers this quiet sleep--REM sleep frequency spectrum difference in the majority of cases was nonsignificant mainly due to high values of the EEG power during REM sleep. It is unlikely that the EEG hypersynchrony in infants of alcoholic mothers represents one of the symptoms of the neonatal alcohol-withdrawal syndrome since hypersynchrony has been detected as long as 6 weeks after birth. During this time any withdrawal symptoms would have been dissipated.