Abstract:

Sleep disorders are commonly occurred among patients with Parkinson's disease, such as difficulties in the initiation of sleep, fragmented sleep, sleep behavior disorder and excessive daytime sleepiness. The mechanism of sleep disorders associated with Parkinsons disease is not clear, which may be associated with the injury of brain stem, nuclei of median raphe, nuclei fasciculi solitarii, thalamencephalon and the changes of neurotransmitters as dopamine, hypocretin (orexin) and melatonin. This article gives an overview of the mechanism of sleep disorders associated with Parkinson's disease.

Key words: Parkinson´s disease, sleep disorders, mechanism