Sleep disorders in kindled cats differ according to the timing of polygraphic recordings and of seizures in the sleep-wake cycle.

Sleep disorders in amygdala-kindled cats differ according to the sleep or waking state in which seizures occur and the time lapse between seizures and polygraphic recordings. Twelve-hour polygraphic recordings were initiated at the following times: (i) before kindling (N = 8 cats); (ii) just after kindled convulsions during waking, slow-wave sleep (SWS), rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS), or in transition from SWS to REMS (N = 8 cats per state), and (iii) 24 h after state-specific seizures (N = 8 cats per state). Rapid onset SWS and delayed REMS occurred in records started immediately after seizures in waking, SWS, or REMS; in contrast, seizures during transitions from SWS to REMS produced early onset REMS and SWS. Finally, records begun 24 h after seizures always revealed prolonged sleep onset and generalized sleep suppression regardless of the state in which seizures occurred. The timing of seizures and of polygraphic recordings may explain discrepancies in the literature on the type of sleep disorders seen in secondary generalized temporal lobe epilepsy.