Relationship between EEG sleep patterns and clinical improvement in depressed patients treated with sleep deprivation.

The effects of a single night of total sleep deprivation were observed in 16 primary depressed patients. Responders to treatment were rated as significantly more depressed and revealed a more "depressed" EEG sleep pattern prior to sleep deprivation than did nonresponders. Following sleep deprivation, patients who improved experienced a rebound in REM sleep during the second night of recovery sleep.