A Clinical Syndrome and EEG-Sleep Changes Associated with Amino Acid Deprivation

Sleep studies and psychiatric examinations were made on three patients with inoperable malignancies whose illnesses were being managed with an experimental low phenylalanine-tyrosine diet. There was a systematic reduction of REM sleep, supporting the findings of Jouvet suggesting that norepinephrine (a metabolic product of phenylalanine and tyrosine) has a role in the maintenance of REM sleep. The patients developed a reversible clinical syndrome manifested by indifference to their environment, lethargy, and impairment of long-term memory.