Skin Temperature Rhythms in Humans Respond to Changes in the Timing of Sleep and Light

Jun 2, 2017Journal of biological rhythms

Human Body Skin Temperature Patterns Change with Sleep and Light Timing

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Abstract

Skin temperature rhythms can be phase delayed by about 7 to 9 hours in response to bright light exposure at night.

Circadian rhythms of plasma melatonin, core body temperature, and skin temperature were significant at baseline for both control and bright light groups.
Bright light exposure at night led to a significant phase delay in skin temperature rhythms following night shifts, whereas the control group showed no shift.
At bedtime, melatonin does not consistently increase before distal skin temperature rises and core body temperature decreases, contrary to previous reports.
Skin temperature rhythms include both an evoked component sensitive to sleep timing changes and an endogenous component responsive to bright light.

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Body temperature is known to vary with circadian phase and to be influenced by factors that can mask its circadian expression. We wanted to test whether skin temperature rhythms were sensitive to an abrupt shift of the sleep schedule and to the resetting effects of light. Nineteen healthy subjects spent 6 days in time isolation and underwent a simulated night-shift procedure. They were assigned to either a control group ( n = 10) or bright light group ( n = 9) and measurements were taken under a baseline day-oriented schedule and during the 4cycle of a night-oriented schedule. In the bright light group, participants were exposed to a 3-cycle 8-h exposure of ~6,500 lux at night, while the control group remained in dim light conditions (~3 lux). Skin temperature was recorded in 10 and 4 participants from the control and bright light groups, respectively. We found significant circadian rhythms of plasma melatonin, core body temperature (CBT), and skin temperature at baseline for both groups ( p < 0.001 for all). Rhythms of melatonin, CBT, and skin temperature following night shifts were significantly phase delayed by about 7 to 9 h ( p < 0.05) in response to bright light at night, whereas there was no shift in the control group. In addition, we found that at bedtime melatonin does not consistently increase before the increase in distal skin temperature and subsequent decrease in CBT, in contrast to what has been previously reported. The present study shows that, in constant posture conditions, skin temperature rhythms have an evoked component sensitive to abrupt changes in the timing of sleep. They also comprise an endogenous component that is sensitive to the resetting effects of bright light exposure. These results have applications for the determination of circadian phase, as skin temperature is less intrusive than rectal temperature recordings. th

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Skin Temperature Rhythms in Humans Respond to Changes in the Timing of Sleep and Light

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