Electroencephalographic sleep in clinically stable schizophrenic patients: two-weeks versus six-weeks neuroleptic-free.

EEG sleep studies in schizophrenic patients are influenced by alterations in clinical state and medication status. The current study defines longitudinal alterations in electroencephalographic (EEG) sleep for 10 healthy men who were schizophrenic patients who remained relatively clinically stable during a double-blind neuroleptic withdrawal study. Clinical assessments and EEG sleep studies were performed at baseline on haloperidol, and then at 2-week and 6-week drug-free periods. Sleep continuity and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep measures declined not only between the haloperidol baseline and 2-week drug-free conditions, but continued to decline from 2-week to 6-weeks neuroleptic-free. Alterations in EEG sleep from the 2-week to 6-week haloperidol-free assessments did not correlate with changes in clinical symptoms suggesting effects related to drug-withdrawal or subclinical state changes. These results show that despite relative clinical stability over time, the EEG sleep of schizophrenic patients continues to change following withdrawal of a neuroleptic and is dependent on the duration of the drug-free interval.