Polarography was employed to study natural nocturnal sleep in 22 patients with facial paraspasm and in 18 patients with facial hemispasm. It has been shown that a pathogenetically significant factor in this pathology are interrelations between the systems of physical and tonic activation where changes specific for each pattern of the hyperkinetic syndrome could be seen. Physical motor hyperactivity forms a characteristic motor-activation pattern in each form. This enables one to discuss not only the mechanisms of the development but also may serve an effective criterion for the diagnosis.