Ventilation during sleep onset

Abstract

There is now considerable evidence which indicates that respiratory activity is different during sleep compared with wakefulness. However, there has been little work on respiratory changes during the transitional period from wakefulness to sleep. The present study was concerned with the quantitative and temporal properties of ventilation during sleep onset. Sleep onsets were studied in five young male adults in a series of single-subject designs in which sleep onsets were replications. The results indicated that during sleep onset the loss of alpha-activity in the electroencephalogram was associated with a substantial, rapid, and highly predictable reduction in ventilation. The change in ventilation was typically due to a reduction in tidal volume and was, in part, secondary to a reduction in metabolic rate. We speculate that the nonmetabolic component may reflect the loss of waking neural drive to respiration, though the present study did not eliminate a variety of other interpretations.

Vigilance, alertness, or sustained attention: physiological basis and measurement

“…There are also physiologic changes in respiration. While there may be more rhythmic respirations during onset of sleep, there is also a relative fall in abdominal respiration compared to thoracic, a decrease in tidal volume, an increase in pCO 2 , a decrease in ventilatory responsiveness to hypercapnia and hypoxia, and an increase in airflow resistance (Colrain et al, 1987;Colrain et al, 1990;Naifeh and Kamiya, 1981;Ogilvie and Wilkinson, 1984;Trinder et al, 1992). The rhythmic deeper respiration during the sleep onset period produces the expected increase in heart rate variability measures secondary to sinus arrhythmia.…”

Breathing and Snoring Sound Characteristics during Sleep in Adults

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Inspiratory breathing sounds can vary significantly across sleep and between subjects; in some cases the sounds may be soft (sound intensity < 40 dB), but in others it can be loud. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Intense breathing sounds are commonly referred to as snoring.…”

What subjective experiences determine the perception of falling asleep during sleep onset period?

“…It has been observed that this period is associated with marked changes in a host of physiological and behavioral phenomena, as well as in subjective experience (Ogilvie & Wilkinson, 1984). Physiological phenomena associated with sleep onset include: decrease in high frequency electroencephalographic (EEG) activities (e.g., Azekawa, Sei, & Morita, 1990;Davis, Davis, Loomis, Harvey, & Hobart, 1937, 1938Hori, 1985;Merica, Fortune, & Gaillard, 1991;Rechtschaffen & Kales, 1968;Tsuno et al, 2002); the absence and presence of different event-related potential (ERP) components (for review, see Campbell, Bell, & Bastien, 1992;Harsh, Voss, Hull, Schrepfer, & Badia, 1994); the appearance of slow eye movements (e.g., De Gennaro, Ferrara, Ferlazzo, & Bertini, 2000;Porte, 2004); the absence of elicited skin conductance responses (e.g., Johnson, 1970); a drop in the core body temperature and an increase in the distal skin temperature (e.g., Barrett, Lack, & Morris, 1993;Krauchi, Cajochen, Werth, & Wirz-Justice, 2000;Wehr, 1990); and, substantial, rapid reduction in respiration (e.g., Colrain, Trinder, Fraser, & Wilson, 1987;Naifeh & Kamiya, 1981). Behavioral indicators of sleep onset include: a decrease in sensory threshold, a cessation of responses to external stimuli (e.g., Anliker, 1966;Ogilvie & Simons, 1992;Ogilvie, Simons, Kuderian, MacDonald, & Rustenburg, 1991;Ogilvie & Wilkinson, 1984, 1988Ogilvie, Wilkinson, & Allison, 1989;Simon & Emmons, 1956), and a decrease in muscle strength (e.g., Jacobson, Kales, Lehmann, & Hoedemaker, 1964;Litchman, 1974) were also observed in the course of the sleep onset process.…”