Sleep Medicine Reviews
Volume 4, Issue 4 , Pages 321-339 , August 2000

Parasomnias: sleepwalking and the law

References 

  1. Fitzgerald PJ. Voluntary and involuntary acts. In Guest AG (ed.) Oxford Essays in Jurisprudence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1961;1–28
  2. Yellowlees D. Homicide by a somnambulist. J Ment Sci. 1878;24:451–458
  3. Ruelas R. Falater: «I guess my brain had broken somehow».. Arizona Republic. 1999 June 17;
  4. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. Sleep-related violence and forensic medicine issues. In Chokroverty S (ed.) Sleep Disorders Medicine: Basic Science, Technical Considerations, and Clinical Aspects. 2 ed. Boston: Butterworth Heinemann. 1999;729–739
  5. Mahowald MW, Bundlie SR, Hurwitz TD, Schenck CH. Sleep violence—forensic science implications: polygraphic and video documentation. J Forensic Sci. 1990;35:413–432
  6. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. Dissociated states of wakefulness and sleep. Neurology. 1992;42:44–52
  7. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. Dissociated states of wakefulness and sleep. In Lydic R, Baghdoyan HA (eds) Handbook of Behavioral State Control: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. 1999;143–158
  8. Zorick FJ, Salis PJ, Roth T, Kramer M. Narcolepsy and automatic behavior: a case report. J Clin Psychiat. 1979;40:194–197
  9. Crisp AH. The sleepwalking/night terrors syndrome in adults. Postgrad Med J. 1996;72:599–604
  10. Ohayon MM, Caulet M, Priest RG. Violent behavior during sleep. J Clin Psychiatry. 1997;58:369–376
  11. Goldin PR, Rosen RC. Epidemiology of nine parasomnias in young adults. Sleep Research. 1997;26:367
  12. Hublin C, Kaprio J, Partinen M, Heikkila K, Koskenvuo M. Prevalence and genetics of sleepwalking; a population-based twin study. Neurology. 1997;48:177–181
  13. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. NREM parasomnias. Neurol Clin. 1996;14:675–696
  14. Fisher C, Kahn E, Edwards A, Davis DM, Fine J. A psychophysiological study of nightmares and night terrors. III. Mental content and recall of stage 4 night terrors. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1974;158:174–188
  15. Thorpy MJC, Diagnostic Classification Steering Committee . ICSD—International classification of sleep disorders: Diagnostic and coding manual. Rochester, MN: American Sleep Disorders Association. 1990;
  16. Schenck CH, Hurwitz TD, Bundlie SR, Mahowald MW. Sleep-related injury in 100 adult patients: a polysomnographic and clinical report. Am J Psychiatry. 1989;146:1166–1173
  17. Moldofsky H, Gilbert R, Lue FA, MacLean AW. Sleep-related violence. Sleep. 1995;18:731–739
  18. Lipowski ZJ. Delirium (acute confusional state). Am Med Assn J. 1987;258:1789–1792
  19. Guilleminault C, Phillips R, Dement WC. A syndrome of hypersomnia with automatic behavior. EEG Clin Neurophysiol. 1975;38:403–413
  20. Roth B, Nevsimalova S, Sagova V, Paroubkova D, Horakova A. Neurological, psychological and polygraphic findings in sleep drunkenness. Arch Suisses Neurol, Neurochir, Psychiatr. 1981;129:209–222
  21. Roth B, Nevsimalova S, Rechtschaffen A. Hypersomnia with ««sleep drunkenness»». Arch Gen Psych. 1972;26:456–462
  22. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. REM sleep behavior disorder. In Kryger MH, Dement W, Roth T (eds) Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders. 1994;574–588
  23. Vela Bueno A, Blanco BD, Cajal FV. Episodic sleep disorder triggered by fever—a case presentation. Waking and Sleeping. 1980;4:243–251
  24. Bonkalo A. Impulsive acts and confusional states during incomplete arousal from sleep: criminological and forensic implications. Psychiatr Quart. 1974;48:400–409
  25. Raschka LB. Sleep and violence. Can J Psychiat. 1984;29:132–134
  26. Mahowald MW, Woods SR, Schenck CH. Sleeping dreams, waking hallucinations, and the central nervous system. Dreaming. 1998;8:89–102
  27. Luchins DJ, Sherwood PM, Gillin JC, Mendelson WB, Wyatt RJ. Filicide during psychotropic-induced somnambulism: a case report. Am J Psychiat. 1978;135:1404–1405
  28. Huapaya LVM. Seven cases of somnambulism induced by drugs. Am J Psychiatry. 1979;136:985–986
  29. Charney DS, Kales A, Soldatos CR, Nelson JC. Somnambulistic-like episodes secondary to combined lithium–neuroleptic treatment. Br J Psychiatry. 1979;135:418–424
  30. Schenck CH, Mahowald MW. Two cases of premenstrual sleep terrors and injurious sleep-walking. J Psychosom Obstet Gynecol. 1995;16:79–84
  31. Mahowald MW, Ettinger MG. Things that go bump in the night—the parasomnias revisited. J Clin Neurophysiol. 1990;7:119–143
  32. Schenck CH, Pareja JA, Patterson AL, Mahowald MW. An analysis of polysomnographic events surrounding 252 slow-wave sleep arousals in 38 adults with injurious sleepwalking and sleep terrors. J Clin Neurophysiol. 1998;15:159–166
  33. Guilleminault C, Silvestri R. Disorders of arousal and epilepsy during sleep. In Sterman MB, Shouse MN, Passouant P (eds) Sleep and Epilepsy. New York: Academic Press. 1982;513–531
  34. Millman RP, Kipp GR, Carskadon MA. Sleepwalking precipitated by treatment of sleep apnea with nasal CPAP. Chest. 1991;99:750–751
  35. Pressman MR, Meyer TJ, Kendrick-Mohamed J, Figueroa WG, Greenspon LW, Peterson DD. Night terrors in an adult precipitated by sleep apnea. Sleep. 1995;18:773–775
  36. Fietze I, Warmuth R, Witt C, Baumann G. Sleep-related breathing disorder and pavor nocturnus. Sleep Research. 1995;24A:301
  37. Grillner S, Dubic R. Control of locomotion in vertebrates: spinal and supraspinal mechanisms. Advances in Neurology. 1988;47:425–453
  38. Cohen AH. Evolution of the vertebrate central pattern generator for locomotion. In Cohen AH, Rossignol S, Grillner S (eds) Neural Control of Rhythmic Movements in Vertebrates. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1988;129–166
  39. Corner MA. Brainstem control of behavior: ontogenetic aspects. In Klemm R, Vertes RP (eds) Brainstem Mechanisms of Behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1990;239–266
  40. Siegel A, Pott CB. Neural substrates of aggression and flight in the cat. Progress in Neurobiology. 1988;31:261–283
  41. LeDoux JE. Emotion. In Montcastle VB, Plum F, Geiger SR (eds) Handbook of Physiology: The Nervous System: Higher Functions of the Brain, Part I. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins. 1987;419–459
  42. Berntson GG, Micco DJ. Organization of brainstem behavioral systems. Brain Res Bull. 1976;1:471–483
  43. Bandler R. Brain mechanisms of aggression as revealed by electrical and chemical stimulation: suggestion of a central role for the midbrain periaqueductal region. Prog Psychobiol Physiol Psychol. 1988;13:67–154
  44. Glusman M. The hypothalamic «savage» syndrome. Assoc Res Nerv Ment Dis. 1974;52:52–92
  45. Kitsikis A, Steriade M. Immediate behavioral effects of kainic acid injections into the midbrain reticular core. Behav Brain Res. 1981;3:361–380
  46. Siegel A, Shaikh MB. The neural bases of aggression and rage in the cat. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 1997;2:241–271
  47. Weiger WA, Bear DM. An approach to the neurology of aggression. Journal Psychiatric Research. 1988;22:85–98
  48. Blake PY, Pincus JH, Buckner C. Neurologic abnormalities in murderers. Neurology. 1995;45:1641–1647
  49. Elliott FA. Violence. The neurologic contribution: an overview. Archives of Neurology. 1992;49:595–603
  50. Greene AF, Lynch TF, Decker B, Coles CJ. A psychological theoretical characterization of interpersonal violence offenders. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 1997;2:273–284
  51. Mori Sh. Integration of posture and locomotion in acute decerebrate cats and in awake, freely moving cats. Progress in Neurobiology. 1987;28:161–195
  52. Mogenson GJ. Limbic-motor integration. Progr Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology. 1986;12:117–170
  53. Shik ML, Orlovsky GN. Neurophysiology of locomotor automatism. Physiologic Rev. 1976;56:465–501
  54. Mori S, Nishimura H, Aoki M. Brain stem activation of the spinal stepping generator. In Hobson JA, Brazier MAB (eds) The Reticular Formation Revisited. New York: Raven Press. 1980;241–259
  55. Hobson JA, Lydic R, Baghdoyan HA. Evolving concepts of sleep cycle generation: from brain centers to neuronal populations. Behav Brain Sci. 1986;9:371–448
  56. Krueger JM, Toth LA, Floyd R, Fang J, Kapas L, Bredow S. Sleep, microbes, and cytokines. Neuroimmunomodulation. 1994;1:100–109
  57. Bowker RM, Morrison AR. The startle reflex and PGO spikes. Brain Research. 1976;102:185–190
  58. Glenn LL. Brainstem and spinal control of lower limb motoneurons with special reference to phasic events and startle reflexes. In McGinty DJ, Drucker-Colin R, Morrison A, Parmeggiani PL (eds) Brain Mechanisms of Sleep. New York: Raven Press. 1985;81–95
  59. Morrison AR. Paradoxical sleep and alert wakefulness: variations on a theme. In Chase MH, Weitzman ED (eds) Sleep Disorders: Basic and Clinical Research. New York: Spectrum. 1983;95–122
  60. Wills N, Chase MH. Brain stem control of masseteric reflex activity during sleep and wakefulness: mesencephalon and pons. Experimental Neurology. 1979;64:98–117
  61. Chase MH. The motor functions of the reticular formation are multifaceted and state-determined. In Hobson JA, Brazier MAB (eds) The reticular formation revisited. New York: Raven Press. 1980;449–472
  62. Cirelli C, Pompeiano M, Tononi G. Neuronal gene expression in the waking state: a role for the locus coeruleus. Science. 1996;274:1211–1215
  63. Amlander CJJ, Ball NJ. Avian sleep. In Kryger MH, Roth T, Dement WC (eds) Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1989;30–49
  64. Zeplin H. Mammalian sleep. In Kryger MH, Roth T, Dement WC (eds) Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1989;30–49
  65. Krilowicz BL, Glotzbach SF, Heller HC. Neuronal activity during sleep and completed bouts of hibernation. Am J Physiol. 1988;255:R1008–R1019
  66. Roth B, Nevsimalova S, Sagova V, Paroubkova D, Horakovga A. Neurological, psychological and polygraphic findings in sleep drunkenness. Archives Suisses de Neurologie, Neurochirgurie et de Psychiatrie. 1981;129:209–222
  67. Dinges DF. Napping patterns and effects in human adults. In Dinges DF, Broughton RJ (eds) Sleeping and Alertness: Chronobiological, Behavioral, and Medical Aspects of Napping. New York: Raven Press. 1989;171–204
  68. Dinges DF. Are you awake? Cognitive performance and reverie during the hypnopompic state. In Bootzin RR, Kihlstrom JF, Schacter DL (eds) Sleep and Cognition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 1990;159–175
  69. Achermann P, Werth E, Dijk D-J, Borbely AA. Time course of sleep inertia after nighttime and daytime sleep episodes. Archives Italiennes de Biologie. 1995;134:109–119
  70. Wright KP, Czeisler CA. The effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance upon awakening from sleep. Sleep. 1999;22 (Suppl.):S147
  71. Jewett ME, Wyatt JK, Ritz-De Cecco A, Khalsa SB, Dijk D-J, Czeisler CA. Time course of sleep inertia dissipation in human performance and alertness. Journal of Sleep Research. 1999;8:1–8
  72. Horner RL, Sanford LD, Pack AI, Morrison AR. Activation of a distinct arousal state immediately after spontaneous awakening from sleep. Brain Research. 1997;778:127–134
  73. Koboyama T, Hori A, Sato T, Mikami T, Yamaki T, Ueda S. Changes in cerebral blood flow velocity in healthy young men during overnight sleep and while awake. EEG Clinical Neurophysiology. 1997;102:125–131
  74. Balkin TJ, Wesensten NJ, Braun AR, Varga M, Baldwin P, Carson RE. Shaking out the cobwebs: changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) across the first 20 minutes of wakefulness. Journal of Sleep Research. 1998;21:411A
  75. Winter WC, Bliwise DL, Quershi AI. Post sleep reduction in cerebral blood flow velocity is independent of preceding REM vs NREM sleep. Sleep. 1999;22 (Suppl.):S288
  76. Meier-Ewert K, Broughton RJ. Photomyoclonic response of epileptic and non-epileptic subjects during wakefulness, sleep and arousal. EEG Clinical Neurophysiology. 1967;23:142–151
  77. Sallinen M, Harma M, Akerstedt T, Rosa R, Lillqvist O. Promoting alertness with a short nap during a night shift. Journal of Sleep Research. 1998;7:240–247
  78. Denesle R, Nicolas A, Gisselin A, Zadra A, Montplaisir J. Sleepwalking and aggressive behavior in sleep. Sleep. 1998;21 (Suppl.):70
  79. Hammond WA. Sleep and Its Derangements.. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott. 1869;
  80. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. Medical–legal aspects of sleep medicine. Neurologic Clinics. 1999;17:215–234
  81. Broughton R, Billings R, Cartwright R, Doucette D, Edmeads J, Edwardh M. Homicidal somnambulism: a case report. Sleep. 1994;17:253–264
  82. Nofzinger EA, Wettstein RM. Homicidal behavior and sleep apnea; a case report and medicolegal discussion. Sleep. 1995;18:776–782
  83. Fenwick P. Sleep and sexual offending. Medicine, Science and the Law. 1996;36:122–134
  84. Shapiro C, McCall Smith A. Forensic Aspects of Sleep.. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. 1997;
  85. Fenwick P. Automatism. In Bluglass R, Bowden P (eds) Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. 1990;271–285
  86. Fenwick P. Automatism, medicine, and the law. Psychological Medicine Monograph (Suppl. I). 1990;17:1–27
  87. Jang D, Coles EM. The evolution and definition of the concept of «automatism» in Canadian case law. Medicine and Law. 1995;14:221–238
  88. Fenwick P. Epilepsy, automatism, and the English Law. Medicine and Law. 1997;16:349–358
  89. McCall Smith A, Shapiro CM. Sleep disorders and the criminal law. In Shapiro C, McCall Smith A (eds) Forensic Aspects of Sleep. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. 1997;29–64
  90. Thomas TN. Sleepwalking disorder and mens rea: a review and case report. Journal of Forensic Science. 1997;42:17–24
  91. Beran RG. Automatisms—the current legal position related to clinical practice and medicolegal interpretation. Clinical and Experimental Neurology. 1992;29:81–91
  92. Harding RW. Sane and insane automatism in Australia: some dilemmas, developments and suggested reforms. Internal J Law Psychiat. 1981;4:73–87
  93. Guilleminault C, Moscovitch A, Leger D. Forensic sleep medicine: nocturnal wandering and violence. Sleep. 1995;18:740–748
  94. Howard C, D»Orban PT. Violence in sleep: medico–legal issues and two case reports. Psychological Med. 1987;17:915–925
  95. Schenck CH, Mahowald MW. A polysomnographically documented case of adult somnambulism with long-distance automobile driving with frequent nocturnal violence: para- somnia with continuing danger as a noninsane automatism. Sleep. 1995;18:765–772
  96. Schenck CH, Mahowald MW. An analysis of a recent criminal trial involving sexual misconduct with a child, alcohol abuse, and a successful sleepwalking defense: arguments supporting two proposed new forensic categories. Medicine, Science and the Law. 1998;38:147–152
  97. Schenck CH, Mahowald MW. Sleepwalking and indecent exposure. Medicine, Science and the Law. 1992;32:86–87
  98. Huber PW. Galileo's Revenge. Junk Science in the Courtroom.. New York: Basic Books. 1991;
  99. Weintraub MI. Expert witness testimony: a time for self-regulation?. Neurology. 1995;45:855–858
  100. Weintraub MI. Expert witness testimony. An update. Neurologic Clinics. 1999;17:363–369
  101. Kammer J. Falater murder case goes to jury. Arizona Republic. 1999 June 24;
  102. Weinstein JB. Expert witness testimony. A trial judge's perspective. Neurologic Clinics. 1999;17:355–362
  103. Committee on Medical Liability . Guidelines for expert witness testimony. Pediatrics. 1989;83:312–313
  104. Anonymous . Guidelines for the physician expert witness. American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 1990;113:789
  105. Bone R, Rosenow E. ACCP guidelines for an expert witness. Chest. 1990;98:1006
  106. American Sleep Disorders Association . ASDA Guidelines for expert witness qualifications and testimony. APSS Newsletter. 1993;8:23
  107. American Academy of Neurology . Qualifications and guidelines for the physician expert witness (newsletter). Neurology. 1989;39:9A
  108. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. Complex motor behavior arising during the sleep period: forensic science implications. Sleep. 1995;18:724–727
  109. Loevinger L. Science as evidence. Jurimetrics Journal. 1995;153:153–190
  110. Foster KR, Bernstein DE, Huber PW. Phantom Risk: Scientific Inference and the Law.. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. 1993;
  111. Ferguson JH. Breast implants redux. This time with data. Neurology. 1998;50:849–852
  112. Re: Daubert et al. vs Merril Dow Pharmaceuticals 92–102. June 28, 1993. [113 S Ct 2768 (1993)]
  113. Kaiser J. Project offers judges neutral science advice. Science. 1999;284:1600
  114. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH, Rosen GR, Hurwitz TD. The role of a sleep disorders center in evaluating sleep violence. Arch Neurol. 1992;49:604–607
  115. Broughton RJ, Shimizu T. Sleep-related violence: a medical and forensic challenge. Sleep. 1995;18:727–730
  116. Whitlock FA. Criminal Responsibility and Mental Illness.. London: Butterworths. 1963;
  117. Prevezer S. Automatism and involuntary conduct. Criminal Law Review. 1958;5:440–452
  118. Prevezer S. Automatism and involuntary conduct. Criminal Law Review. 1958;5:361–367
  119. Williams G. Criminal Law.. London: Stevens and Sons. 1961;
  120. In Camps FE (ed.) Gradwohl's legal medicine. Third ed. Chicago: A. John Wright and Sons, Dist. by Yearbook Medical Publishers. 1976;505
  121. Blatt I, Peled R, Gadoth N, Lavie P. The value of sleep recording in evaluating somnambulism in young adults. EEG Clin Neurophysiology. 1991;78:407–412
  122. Halasz P, Ujszaszi J, Gadoros J. Are microarousals preceded by electroencephalographic slow wave synchronization precursors of confusional awakenings?. Sleep. 1985;8:231–238
  123. Kales A, Jacobson A, Paulson MJ, Kales JD, Walter RD. Somnambulism: psychophysiological correlates. I. All-night EEG studies. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1966;14:586–594
  124. Bastuji H, De Villard R, Garde P, Challamel M-J. High voltage monomorphic delta activity during sleep in children with pavor nocturnus or somnambulism, and in normal controls. Journal of Sleep Research. 1991;20A:285
  125. Denesle R, Gosselin A, Zadra A, Nicolas A, Montplaisir J. Arousals from REM and non-REM sleep in sleepwalkers and controls. Sleep. 1999;21:254
  126. Kavey N, Quaattrucci RJ, Tucker AP, Benjamin RS. Slow-wave sleep fragmentation in sleep walking and night terror disorders. Sleep. 1999;21:66
  127. Tov N, Hashmonai R, Tzischinksy O, Pillar G, Peled R, Lavie P. Clinical and poly- somnographic characteristics of 211 consecutive somnambulistic patients. Journal of Sleep Research. 1997;26:523
  128. Zuccone M, Oldani A, Ferini-Strambi L, Smirne S. Arousal fluctuations in non-rapid eye movement parasomnias: the role of cyclic alternating pattern as a measure of sleep instability. J Clin Neurophysiology. 1995;12:147–154
  129. Zadra AL, Nielsen TA. Topographical EEG mapping in a case of recurrent sleep terrors. Dreaming. 1998;8:67–74
  130. Walker EA. Murder or epilepsy?. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1961;133:430–437
  131. Glasgow GL. The anatomy of automatism. N Z Med J. 1965;64:491–495
  132. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. Parasomnia purgatory—the epileptic/non-epileptic interface. In Rowan AJ, Gates JR (eds) Non-Epileptic Seizures. Boston: Butterworth–Heinemann. 1993;123–139
  133. Broughton RJ, Shimizu T. Dangerous behaviors by night. In Shapiro CM, Smith AM (eds) Forensic Aspects of Sleep. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. 1997;65–83
  134. Guilleminault C, Kushida C, Leger D. Forensic sleep medicine and nocturnal wanderings. Sleep. 1995;18:721–723
  135. Aldrich MS, Jahnke B. Diagnostic value of video–EEG polysomnography. Neurology. 1991;41:1060–1066
  136. Brooks AD. Law, Psychiatry, and the Mental Health System.. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 1974;

 Correspondence to be addressed to: Mark W. Mahowald, MD, Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, Hennepin County Medical Center, 701 Park AveMinneapolis, MN 55415, USA. Fax: +612-904-4207; E-mail: mahow002@maroon.tc.umn.edu

PII: S1087-0792(99)90078-3

doi: 10.1053/smrv.1999.0078

Sleep Medicine Reviews
Volume 4, Issue 4 , Pages 321-339 , August 2000