Sleep disturbance and neurological disease

摘要

Sleep has been described as being of the brain, by the brain and for the brain.1 Sleep and wakefulness are now understood as transitions between brain states precisely defined by electrophysiological criteria. A superimposed 24-hour (circa-dian) rhythm is regulated from within the suprachiasmatic nucleus deep within the hypothalamus. This tiny population of cells acts as the central body clock and regulates our day-night patterns.