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The Temperature Dependence of Sleep

Mammals have evolved a range of behavioural and neurological mechanisms that coordinate cycles of thermoregulation and sleep. Whether diurnal or nocturnal, sleep onset and a reduction in core temperature occur together. Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep episodes are also accompanied by core and br...

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Autores principales: Harding, Edward C., Franks, Nicholas P., Wisden, William
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6491889/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31105512
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.00336
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author Harding, Edward C.
Franks, Nicholas P.
Wisden, William
author_facet Harding, Edward C.
Franks, Nicholas P.
Wisden, William
author_sort Harding, Edward C.
collection PubMed
description Mammals have evolved a range of behavioural and neurological mechanisms that coordinate cycles of thermoregulation and sleep. Whether diurnal or nocturnal, sleep onset and a reduction in core temperature occur together. Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep episodes are also accompanied by core and brain cooling. Thermoregulatory behaviours, like nest building and curling up, accompany this circadian temperature decline in preparation for sleeping. This could be a matter of simply comfort as animals seek warmth to compensate for lower temperatures. However, in both humans and other mammals, direct skin warming can shorten sleep-latency and promote NREM sleep. We discuss the evidence that body cooling and sleep are more fundamentally connected and that thermoregulatory behaviours, prior to sleep, form warm microclimates that accelerate NREM directly through neuronal circuits. Paradoxically, this warmth might also induce vasodilation and body cooling. In this way, warmth seeking and nesting behaviour might enhance the circadian cycle by activating specific circuits that link NREM initiation to body cooling. We suggest that these circuits explain why NREM onset is most likely when core temperature is at its steepest rate of decline and why transitions to NREM are accompanied by a decrease in brain temperature. This connection may have implications for energy homeostasis and the function of sleep.
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spelling pubmed-64918892019-05-17 The Temperature Dependence of Sleep Harding, Edward C. Franks, Nicholas P. Wisden, William Front Neurosci Neuroscience Mammals have evolved a range of behavioural and neurological mechanisms that coordinate cycles of thermoregulation and sleep. Whether diurnal or nocturnal, sleep onset and a reduction in core temperature occur together. Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep episodes are also accompanied by core and brain cooling. Thermoregulatory behaviours, like nest building and curling up, accompany this circadian temperature decline in preparation for sleeping. This could be a matter of simply comfort as animals seek warmth to compensate for lower temperatures. However, in both humans and other mammals, direct skin warming can shorten sleep-latency and promote NREM sleep. We discuss the evidence that body cooling and sleep are more fundamentally connected and that thermoregulatory behaviours, prior to sleep, form warm microclimates that accelerate NREM directly through neuronal circuits. Paradoxically, this warmth might also induce vasodilation and body cooling. In this way, warmth seeking and nesting behaviour might enhance the circadian cycle by activating specific circuits that link NREM initiation to body cooling. We suggest that these circuits explain why NREM onset is most likely when core temperature is at its steepest rate of decline and why transitions to NREM are accompanied by a decrease in brain temperature. This connection may have implications for energy homeostasis and the function of sleep. Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-04-24 /pmc/articles/PMC6491889/ /pubmed/31105512 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.00336 Text en Copyright © 2019 Harding, Franks and Wisden. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Harding, Edward C.
Franks, Nicholas P.
Wisden, William
The Temperature Dependence of Sleep
title The Temperature Dependence of Sleep
title_full The Temperature Dependence of Sleep
title_fullStr The Temperature Dependence of Sleep
title_full_unstemmed The Temperature Dependence of Sleep
title_short The Temperature Dependence of Sleep
title_sort temperature dependence of sleep
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6491889/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31105512
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.00336
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