SLEEP - NREM Sleep Stage Transitions Control Ultradian REM Sleep Rhythm

VOLUME 34, ISSUE 10

NON-REM SLEEP STAGE TRANSITIONS CONTROL REM SLEEP RHYTHM
NREM Sleep Stage Transitions Control Ultradian REM Sleep Rhythm

http://dx.doi.org/10.5665/sleep.1292

Akifumi Kishi, PhD¹^,²; Hideaki Yasuda, MD, PhD³; Takahisa Matsumoto, MD, PhD⁴; Yasushi Inami, MD, PhD⁵; Jun Horiguchi, MD, PhD³; Masako Tamaki, PhD⁶; Zbigniew R. Struzik, PhD¹; Yoshiharu Yamamoto, PhD¹

¹Educational Physiology Laboratory, Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; ²Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan; ³Department of Psychiatry, Shimane University School of Medicine, Izumo, Shimane, Japan; ⁴Seiwakai Nishikawa Hospital, Hamada, Shimane, Japan; ⁵Department of Psychiatry, Ehime Rosai Hospital, Niihama, Ehime, Japan; ⁶ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan

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Study Objectives:

The cyclic sequence of NREM and REM sleep, the so-called ultradian rhythm, is a highly characteristic feature of sleep. However, the mechanisms responsible for the ultradian REM sleep rhythm, particularly in humans, have not to date been fully elucidated. We hypothesize that a stage transition mechanism is involved in the determination of the ultradian REM sleep rhythm.

Participants:

Ten healthy young male volunteers (age: 22 ± 4 years, range 19–31 years) spent 3 nights in a sleep laboratory. The first was the adaptation night, and the second was the baseline night. On the third night, the subjects received risperidone (1 mg tablet), a central serotonergic and dopaminergic antagonist, 30 min before the polysomnography recording.

Measurements and Results:

We measured and investigated transition probabilities between waking, REM, and NREM sleep stages (N1, N2, and N3) within the REM-onset intervals, defined as the intervals between the onset of one REM period and the beginning of the next, altered by risperidone. We also calculated the transition intensity (i.e., instantaneous transition rate) and examined the temporal pattern of transitions within the altered REM-onset intervals. We found that when the REM-onset interval was prolonged by risperidone, the probability of transitions from N2 to N3 was significantly increased within the same prolonged interval, with a significant delay and/or recurrences of the peak intensity of transitions from N2 to N3.

Conclusions:

These results suggest that the mechanism governing NREM sleep stage transitions (from light to deep sleep) plays an important role in determining ultradian REM sleep rhythms.

Citation:

Kishi A; Yasuda H; Matsumoto T; Inami Y; Horiguchi J; Tamaki M; Struzik ZR; Yamamoto Y. NREM sleep stage transitions control ultradian REM sleep rhythm. SLEEP 2011;34(10):1423-1432.