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The relationship between insomnia and body temperatures
Leon C Lack1, Michael Gradisar, Eus J W Van Someren
1School of Psychology, Flinders University, South Australia, Australia. leon.lack@flinders.edu.au
Sleep Medicine Reviews
|July 8, 2008
Summary
Sleep and body temperature rhythms are linked, with insomnia types correlating to specific temperature abnormalities. Understanding these connections can help develop targeted insomnia treatments.
Area of Science:
- Chronobiology
- Sleep Medicine
- Thermoregulation
Background:
- Circadian rhythms, particularly core body temperature, significantly influence sleep propensity.
- Sleep timing is optimal during the temperature minimum phase but inhibited during specific wake maintenance zones.
- Abnormalities in body temperature rhythms are linked to various insomnia symptom types.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the relationship between different insomnia symptoms and core body temperature rhythm abnormalities.
- To investigate the potential role of thermoregulation in sleep maintenance insomnia and combined insomnia types.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature associating insomnia symptoms with core body temperature rhythms.
- Analysis of studies examining circadian rhythm timing in relation to sleep onset and early morning awakening insomnia.
- Examination of research on nocturnal core body temperature and thermoregulation in sleep maintenance and combined insomnia.
Main Results:
- Sleep onset insomnia correlates with delayed temperature rhythms, treatable with phase-advancing light therapy.
- Early morning awakening insomnia links to advanced temperature rhythms, responsive to phase-delaying evening light.
- Sleep maintenance insomnia is associated with elevated nocturnal core body temperature, not circadian timing shifts.
- Combined insomnia shows a 24-h core body temperature elevation, suggesting hyper-arousal.
Conclusions:
- Core body temperature rhythm abnormalities are key indicators for specific insomnia types.
- While circadian timing is implicated in sleep onset and early awakening insomnia, sleep maintenance insomnia may involve impaired thermoregulation.
- Further research in naturalistic settings is needed to confirm thermoregulation's role in certain insomnia types.
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