Buspirone has not heretofore been reported to trigger somnambulism. Such a case is described.

Buspirone is a partial 5HT1A agonist, which acts to suppress REM sleep and increase sleep fragmentation (Ware, 1994).

A 36-year old right handed woman presented with one-year of constant anxiety and panic attacks with epochs of dyspnea, tachycardia, diaphoresis,paresthesias of both hands, and out of body sensations. She affirmed déjà vu and PM insomnia, and vivid dreams. When in high school she had one sleepwalking event, without recurrence. The patient was begun on buspirone, initially 2.5 mg and raised to 5 mg QHS. Within a day of increasing the dose, she experienced an episode whereby in the early hours in the morning, she removed her pajamas, folded them neatly into a stack next to the bed, and returned to bed, sans clothes. She was amnestic for this event, but based this history on her husband’s report. She discontinued the buspironeand for over 1 year, there has been no recurrence of such events.

Abnormalities in her neurological examination: Mental Status

Anxious. Memory: immediate recall: 7 digits forwards and 4 digits backwards: Cranial Nerve Examination: Cranial Nerve I: Alcohol Sniff Test: 8 cm (hyposmia), Reflexes: 3+ throughout. Neuropsychiatric testing: Clock Drawing test: 4 (Normal). Animal Fluency test: 20 (normal).

Buspirone induced somnambulism may relate directly to its mechanism of action, as a 5HT1A partial agonist. Since other 5HT1A agonists, to cause noctambulism (Raja2012). Buspirone increases sleep fragmentation (Wilson, 2005), and thus may act to disrupt slow wave sleep, promoting susceptibility to somnambulism. Alternatively, her somnambulism may be a nocturnal variant of Buspirone induced dissociative state (Bystritsky, 2013). Given the above, it is worthwhile to query those who are undergoing therapy with buspirone for the development of somnambulism.

No funding.