Altered phase relation between sleep timing and core body temperature rhythm in delayed sleep phase syndrome and non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome in humans

Changes in the phase relation between sleep timing and the circadian pacemaker are suspected to have an etiological significance in circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Simultaneous recordings of rest-activity and rectal temperature in seven sighted delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) patients, seven sighted non-24-h sleep-wake syndrome (non-24) patients, and 14 healthy controls were made for 10-14 days continuously in the subjects' homes. We found that sleep length and the interval from the body temperature (BT) trough to sleep offset were significantly longer in both non-24 and DSPS patients than in the controls, and that the interval between sleep onset and the BT trough was significantly less in the non-24 patients than in the DSPS patients and the controls. We postulate these alterations in phase relation to be associated with phase changes of the circadian pacemaker via different illumination timings.