Active reward processing during human sleep: insights from sleep-related eating disorder

• Main Authors: Lampros ePerogamvros, Roland eHasler, Patrick eBaud, Claude Robert Cloninger, Sophie eSchwartz, Stephen ePerrig
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2012-11-01
• Series: Frontiers in Neurology
• Subjects: Parasomnias; Sleep; dreaming; reward processing; sleep-related eating disorder; mesolimbic dopaminergic system
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fneur.2012.00168/full
• ISSN: 1664-2295

In this paper, we present two carefully documented cases of patients with sleep-related eating disorder (SRED), a parasomnia which is characterized by involuntary compulsive eating during the night and whose pathophysiology is not known. Using video-polysomnography and psychometric examination, we found that both patients present elevated novelty seeking and increased reward sensitivity on reward-related questionnaires. In light of new evidence on the mesolimbic dopaminergic implication in compulsive eating disorders, our findings suggest a role of an active reward system during sleep in the manifestation of SRED.