A kinesthetic stimulation device for discriminating between successive sleep stages of a patient, comprising: - a generator adapted to produce controlled bursts of kinesthetic stimulation pulses; - at least one kinesthetic effector adapted to be applied to an external skin site of the patient and comprising a vibrating electromechanical transducer adapted to receive the pulses produced by the generator; - means (10, 12) for measuring at least one control parameter of the patient's current autonomic activity; - detection means adapted to determine a sleep state of the patient; and - means of analysis of the sleep, conditionally activated only in the presence of a sleep state determined by the detection means, comprising: • means adapted to determine, according to said measurement of at least one control parameter of the patient's current autonomic activity, a variation of this control parameter subsequent to said production of the burst of kinesthetic pulses; • evaluation means adapted to determine an autonomic response of the patient to the kinesthetic stimulation in accordance with said variation, characterized in that the means of analysis of the sleep comprise: • control means adapted to control the activation of the generator to trigger the production of a burst of kinesthetic pulses; and • methods of discrimination adapted to determine, following the kinesthetic stimulation produced by the activation of the generator by the control means, and in accordance with the autonomic response determined by the evaluation means, the sleep stage of the patient from a plurality of predetermined stages of the group including: slow wave sleep I, slow wave sleep II, slow wave sleep III, slow wave sleep IV and REM sleep. - a generator adapted to produce controlled bursts of kinesthetic stimulation pulses; - at least one kinesthetic effector adapted to be applied to an external skin site of the patient and comprising a vibrating electromechanical transducer adapted to receive the pulses produced by the generator; - means (10, 12) for measuring at least one control parameter of the patient's current autonomic activity; - detection means adapted to determine a sleep state of the patient; and - means of analysis of the sleep, conditionally activated only in the presence of a sleep state determined by the detection means, comprising: • means adapted to determine, according to said measurement of at least one control parameter of the patient's current autonomic activity, a variation of this control parameter subsequent to said production of the burst of kinesthetic pulses; • evaluation means adapted to determine an autonomic response of the patient to the kinesthetic stimulation in accordance with said variation, characterized in that the means of analysis of the sleep comprise: • control means adapted to control the activation of the generator to trigger the production of a burst of kinesthetic pulses; and • methods of discrimination adapted to determine, following the kinesthetic stimulation produced by the activation of the generator by the control means, and in accordance with the autonomic response determined by the evaluation means, the sleep stage of the patient from a plurality of predetermined stages of the group including: slow wave sleep I, slow wave sleep II, slow wave sleep III, slow wave sleep IV and REM sleep. • means adapted to determine, according to said measurement of at least one control parameter of the patient's current autonomic activity, a variation of this control parameter subsequent to said production of the burst of kinesthetic pulses; • evaluation means adapted to determine an autonomic response of the patient to the kinesthetic stimulation in accordance with said variation, • control means adapted to control the activation of the generator to trigger the production of a burst of kinesthetic pulses; and • methods of discrimination adapted to determine, following the kinesthetic stimulation produced by the activation of the generator by the control means, and in accordance with the autonomic response determined by the evaluation means, the sleep stage of the patient from a plurality of predetermined stages of the group including: slow wave sleep I, slow wave sleep II, slow wave sleep III, slow wave sleep IV and REM sleep.