Cardiorespiratory Interaction and Autonomic Sleep Quality Improve during Sleep in Beds Made from Pinus cembra (Stone Pine) Solid Wood

Abstract

Cardiorespiratory interactions (CRIs) reflect the mutual tuning of two important organismic oscillators—the heartbeat and respiration. These interactions can be used as a powerful tool to characterize the self-organizational and recreational quality of sleep. In this randomized, blinded and cross-over design study, we investigated CRIs in 15 subjects over a total of 253 nights who slept in beds made from different materials. One type of bed, used as control, was made of melamine faced chipboard with a wood-like appearance, while the other type was made of solid wood from stone pine (Pinus cembra). We observed a significant increase of vagal activity (measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia), a decrease in the heart rate (as an indicator of energy consumption during sleep) and an improvement in CRIs, especially during the first hours of sleep in the stone pine beds as compared to the chipboard beds. Subjective assessments of study participants’ well-being in the morning and sub-scalar assessments of their intrapsychic stability were significantly better after they slept in the stone pine bed than after they slept in the chipboard bed. Our observations suggest that CRIs are sensitive to detectable differences in indoor settings that are relevant to human health. Our results are in agreement with those of other studies that have reported that exposure to volatile phytochemical ingredients of stone pine (α-pinene, limonene, bornyl acetate) lead to an improvement in vagal activity and studies that show a reduction in stress parameters upon contact with solid wood surfaces.

Pulse respiration quotient as a measure sensitive to changes in dynamic behavior of cardiorespiratory coupling such as body posture and breathing regime

“…It turns out that in our sample interindividual variability elevates the mean value of PRQ, because there are subjects with an average PRQ significantly higher than in the majority of the sample. However, our result of PRQ mean value is below 5.03 and 5.29 that were obtained by Grote et al (2021). With the duration of the supine state, this decrease becomes more expressed; mean and std dev are significantly lowered (Table 1) which is visually notable in Figure 2 as narrowing and drop of the PRQ values.…”

“…Quantization with a preference for integer values is noticeable on the histogram representations (in supine position) published in different independent studies (Moser et al, 1995;Kotani et al, 2002;Bartsch et al, 2007;Scholkmann, Zohdi, and Wolf, 2019). Their PRQ histograms indicate a pronounced accumulation of PRQ integer values HR:RR = m:1 (Moser et al, 1995;Kotani et al, 2002;Bartsch et al, 2007; and especially during sleep (Grote et al, 2021). We also noticed the same accumulations in the supine condition (Supin) with an affinity towards the integer ratio 4:1.…”

“…There are various techniques for exploration of CRC. Among them, pulse respiration quotient (PRQ) was reaffirmed as a very elegant and powerful tool by which useful information on ANS regulation patterns can be obtained (Moser et al, 1995;Edelhäuser et al, 2013;Grote et al, 2021). In earlier research (at the beginning of the 20th century), PRQ was calculated approximately, as integer values (Coleman, 1920).…”

Cardiac vagal activity is associated with gut-microbiome patterns in women—An exploratory pilot study

“…The RRI time series was filtered, and artefacts were removed according to Grote et al. ( 2021 ). R peaks were detected by a digital filter described in Moser et al.…”

The positive impact of wooden material on educational processes in the environment of Slovenian wooden kindergartens

“…Therefore, such an environment should respect not only the physical but also the psychological needs of children. Recent research (Köhldorfer, 2010;Grote, 2021;Filová, 2019) partially proves that by applying natural materials and principles of biophilic design (which represents a holistic approach to the design of interiors and exteriors, where the core of interest is the person and the impact on their mental and physical well-being and health; in combination with an approach that takes into account the longterm impact on the natural environment, this is environmental design that strengthens the health of the individual [Janková 2017]) or restorative environmental design (which is a building design paradigm that combines sustainable building practices with building practices beneficial to the health of residents [Burnard, 2014]) it is possible to help to reduce children's absence from schools and improve health and psychological well-being and increase work performance and improve the results of not only adults but also children. The contact with wooden elements undoubtedly has an impact on people's emotional and physiological well-being .…”