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2. Bullough. W.S. (1948) Mitotic activity in the adult male mouse Mus niusculrrs L. The diurnal cycles and theL relations to waking and sleeping. I?acredhw oJ'rlic Royal Sociery. Series B, 135,212-233. 3. Halbcrg, I:., Zandcr. H.A., Houglum, M.W. k Miihlemann. H.R. (1954) Daily variations in tissue mitoses, blood eosinophilr and rectal temperatures of rats. American Journal of Physiology. 111, 361-366. 4. Halberg. C., Calicich. J.H., Ungar, C. k French, L.A. (1965) Ckcadian rhythmic pituitary adrenocorticotropic activity, rectal temperature and pinnal mitosis of starving, dehydrated C mice. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 118.4 14-41 9.

1 Nine volunteer poor sleepers, of mean age 61 years, took trazodone 150 mg nightly for 3 weeks, preceded by 2 weeks and followed by 1 week of matching blanks, in order to examine the effects of electrophysiologically-recorded and subjectively-rated sleep. The second of the initial weeks of matching blanks served as a baseline week. 2 In the subjective ratings, sleep improved in quality on trazodone, significantly so in the first and second weeks of intake, though with significant rebound insomnia on the second withdrawal night. 3 Trazodone halved the frequency of arousals interrupting sleep, and it reduced the time spent in stage 1 (drowsiness). It increased the duration of slow-wave sleep (stages 3 + 4), with a negative rebound following withdrawal. It reduced the time spent in REM sleep, with a rebound above baseline levels after withdrawal. 4 Trazodone did not change total sleep duration, nor the time required to fall asleep. 5 The effects of trazodone were sustained or became enhanced during the period of intake. They persisted for over 24 h after the last dose, and rebound effects were maximal on the second withdrawal night.

Fifteen patients with a variety of itching skin diseases (atopic eczema, dermatitis herpetiformis, lichen planus, urticaria and psoriasis) have been studied in the sleep laboratory. Recordings were made of all-night electroencephalogram, electro-oculogram, submental electromyogram, and muscle potentials from both forearms. Bouts of scratching during orthodox (NREM) sleep occurred more frequently in stages 1 and 2 than in stages 3 and 4. The frequency in paradoxial (REM) sleep was close to that in stage 2 sleep. This pattern was similar for all the diseases studied and seems to be related to the physiology of the sleep stages rather than to the skin diseases themselves. The mean duration of the bouts of scratching was not related to the sleep stage in which they started.

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