Sleep disturbances in schizophrenia: what we know, what still needs to be done

Abstract

Sleep disturbances are commonly observed in schizophrenia (SCZ) and are associated with worse psychotic symptoms and poorer clinical outcomes. Early polysomnography studies have focused on characterizing differences in sleep architecture between patients with SCZ and healthy controls. More recently, research has focused on sleep-specific EEG oscillations, such as sleep spindles and slow waves, which reflect the integrity of underlying thalamo-cortical networks. Furthermore, high-density (hd)-EEG (≥64 channels), which affords enhanced spatial resolution, has been employed to better localize abnormalities in sleep characteristics and related thalamo-cortical circuits in patients with SCZ and related disorders. In this article, we will review the most relevant sleep abnormalities reported in SCZ, with an emphasis on recent findings, and propose directions for future research.