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Central respiratory pauses, sighs, and gross body movements during sleep in children

Michio Fukumizu1, Jun Kohyama

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan. michio.fukumizu@umit.maine.edu

Physiology & Behavior
|August 26, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Sighs and gross body movements often precede or follow central respiratory pauses in children. Their frequency decreases with age, while central pauses increase, especially during REM sleep.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Respiratory Physiology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Sighs (SIs) and gross body movements (GMs) are common arousal behaviors during sleep.
  • These behaviors are known to interact with central respiratory pauses (CPs) in healthy individuals.
  • Limited research exists on the temporal relationship between CPs and spontaneous behaviors beyond infancy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate age- and state-related changes in the frequency and duration of apnea-behavior relationships in healthy children.
  • To explore the temporal associations between central respiratory pauses (CPs) and spontaneous behaviors like sighs (SIs) and gross body movements (GMs).

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study involving 19 healthy children aged 3 months to 7 years.
  • All-night polysomnography and respiratory inductive plethysmography were used to assess CPs, SIs, and GMs.
  • Data analyzed by dividing children into two age groups: <15 months and >15 months.

Main Results:

  • Frequency of CPs (≥10s) increased with age, while GM and SI frequencies decreased.
  • Isolated CPs were more frequent in REM sleep (REMS) than NREM sleep (NREMS).
  • CPs preceded by SIs or GMs constituted ~75% of central apnea events, occurring more in NREMS, with duration increasing with age.

Conclusions:

  • The relationship between respiratory pauses and spontaneous behaviors changes significantly during early childhood development.
  • Age- and sleep-state-dependent alterations in the interplay between CPs and behaviors like sighs and movements are evident.
  • Further research is needed to understand developmental differences in these physiological behaviors in relation to CPs during NREMS and REMS.

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