Sleep Pathophysiology

Abstract

Sleep is a natural, reversible, and periodic behavioral state characterized by perceptual inattention and decreased responsiveness to external stimuli. The processes governing sleep, sleep-wake transitions, and maintenance of wakefulness are mediated by complex physiologic mechanisms, the primary neurobiological substrates of which include the neocortex, basal forebrain, thalamus, hypothalamus, pontine tegmentum, and brainstem monoaminergic nuclei. Moreover, the integrity of brainstem autonomic respiratory control networks becomes critical in the maintenance of ventilation during sleep. Pathologic insults to these systems may result in a broad constellation of clinical deficits.