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Hypothalamic gray matter changes in narcoleptic patients

Nature Medicine volume 8, pages 1186–1188 (2002)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 April 2004

To the editor

Narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder, is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, disturbed nocturnal sleep, cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle tone) and various symptoms associated with abnormal rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, including hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis. Emotions or provocative circumstances can modulate the pattern and severity of clinical appearance.

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Figure 1: Statistical parametric maps demonstrating the structural difference in gray matter between narcolepsy patients (n = 29; 12 male, 17 female; mean age 39.7 ± 11.3 s.d.) and unaffected healthy control subjects (n = 29; 12 male, 17 female; mean age 38.6 ± 9.3 s.d.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    B. Draganski, U. Bogdahn, J. Winkler & A. May

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    P. Geisler & G. Hajak

  3. Institute of Neuroradiology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    G. Schuierer

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  1. B. Draganski
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  2. P. Geisler
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  7. A. May
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Correspondence to A. May.

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Draganski, B., Geisler, P., Hajak, G. et al. Hypothalamic gray matter changes in narcoleptic patients. Nat Med 8, 1186–1188 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1102-1186

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