Contribution of the circadian pacemaker and the sleep homeostat to sleep propensity, sleep structure, electroencephalographic slow waves, and sleep spindle activity in humans

May 1, 1995The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

How the body clock and sleep pressure influence sleepiness, sleep patterns, slow brain waves, and sleep spindles in people

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Abstract

A robust circadian rhythm of REM sleep peaks shortly after the core body temperature's lowest point.

  • Sleep episodes of 9.33 hours occurred at all phases of the endogenous circadian cycle over 33-36 days in an environment free of time cues.
  • An increase in REM sleep was observed to be sleep-dependent and interacted with the circadian rhythm, resulting in the highest REM sleep values coinciding with habitual wake-time.
  • Slow-wave activity decreased while sleep spindle activity increased across all sleep episodes.
  • Slow-wave activity in non-REM sleep showed low amplitude circadian modulation that did not align with the circadian rhythm of sleep propensity.
  • Sleep spindle activity exhibited a distinct circadian rhythm, peaking at the start of the habitual sleep episode.
  • The interaction between circadian and sleep-dependent components of sleep structure supports the consolidation of sleep and wakefulness.

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Full Text

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