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Related Experiment Videos

Ventilation is unstable during drowsiness before sleep onset.

Stuart Thomson1, Mary J Morrell, Jeremy J Cordingley

  • 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital Campus, London, UK.

Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985)
|July 19, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Ventilatory instability during drowsiness is linked to brain state changes. This study shows that shifts from alpha to theta brain waves significantly prolong breathing duration, indicating an immediate altered ventilatory response.

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Area of Science:

  • Respiratory Physiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Sleep Medicine

Background:

  • Ventilation can become unstable during the drowsiness preceding sleep onset.
  • This instability occurs before the characteristic fluctuations seen at the start of non-rapid eye movement sleep.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of transient cerebral state changes during drowsiness on breathing patterns.
  • To analyze breath duration and lung volume changes associated with specific electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns.

Main Methods:

  • Eight healthy subjects were monitored using a volume-cycled ventilator.
  • Cerebral state changes were identified via EEG, classifying breaths as alpha or theta.
  • Breath duration and expiratory pause were measured during transitions from alpha to theta breaths.

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Main Results:

  • A transition from alpha to theta brain activity was associated with a significant increase in breath duration (5.2s to 13.0s) and expiratory pause (0.7s to 7.5s).
  • Continuous monitoring in two subjects showed stable arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO2) during these prolonged breaths.
  • This suggests an immediate alteration in the ventilatory response to PaCO2.

Conclusions:

  • Ventilatory instability before sleep onset is linked to the apneic threshold for carbon dioxide (CO2) being near awake levels.
  • The findings highlight the immediate influence of cerebral state on respiratory control during the transition to sleep.