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Parasomnias

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Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology

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Synonyms

Abnormal swallowing syndrome; Arousal disorders; Behavioral modifications; Catathrenia; Confusional arousals; Exploding head syndrome; Forensic; Hypnic jerks; Jactatio capitis nocturna; Night terrors; Nightmares; Nocturnal bruxism; NREM; Parasomnias; Pavor nocturnus; Rapid eye movement disorder; RBD; REM sleep; Rhythmic movement disorders; Sexsomnia; Sleep drunkenness; Sleep enuresis; Sleep hygiene; Sleep paralysis; Sleep terrors; Sleep-related dissociative disorder; Sleep-related eating disorder; Sleepwalking; Somnambulism; Somniloquy

Definition

The class of sleep disorders known as parasomnias (L. para = next to; somnus= sleep) includes some of the most unusual, challenging, fascinating, and potentially instructive of all behavioral disorders. These are clinical disorders characterized by acute, abnormal behavioral or physiological events, associated with sleep. Parasomnias may be unpleasant or undesirable events, which accompany sleep-specific sleep stages or sleep/wake...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Healthful Behavior Change (CHBC), Division of Health and Behavior, Department of Population Health, New York University Medical Center, Clinical & Translational Research Institute, 227 East 30th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Ave), Floor # 6-632E, M6H 1C5 10016, New York, NY, USA

    Pandi-Perumal Seithikurippu Ratnas

  2. University Sleep Disorders Center, College of Medicine, National Plan for Science and Technology, King Saud University, 225503, 11324, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmed S. BaHammam

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Sleep and Alertness Clinic Toronto, 399 Bathurst Street, Edith Cavell wing - 3C014, M5T 2S8, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Colin M. Shapiro

Authors
  1. Pandi-Perumal Seithikurippu Ratnas
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  2. Ahmed S. BaHammam
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  3. Colin M. Shapiro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pandi-Perumal Seithikurippu Ratnas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Behavioural Pharmacology, King's College London Institute of Psychiatry P049, London, United Kingdom

    Ian P. Stolerman

  2. Brown Medical School, Butler Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

    Lawrence H. Price

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Seithikurippu Ratnas, PP., BaHammam, A.S., Shapiro, C.M. (2014). Parasomnias. In: Stolerman, I., Price, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27772-6_316-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27772-6_316-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27772-6

  • eBook Packages: Living Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Parasomnias
    Published:
    07 June 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27772-6_316-3

  2. Original

    Parasomnias: Things that Go Bump in the Night
    Published:
    08 April 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27772-6_316-2

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