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Body temperature and sleep.
1Research Service, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and Department of Medicine and Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Handbook of Clinical Neurology
|November 21, 2018
Summary
During sleep, mammals experience a drop in core body temperature (CBT) regulated by the brain
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Physiology
- Sleep Science
Background:
- Mammalian sleep is associated with a decrease in core body temperature (CBT).
- The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) circadian clock governs daily rhythms in CBT and arousal, which are typically synchronized.
- Reduced metabolic heat production, altered autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, and thermoeffector responses contribute to sleep-related CBT reduction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms linking thermoregulation and sleep.
- To understand the role of the preoptic/anterior hypothalamus in regulating CBT during different sleep stages.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on sleep, thermoregulation, and circadian rhythms.
- Analysis of neuroanatomical and functional connections between arousal and thermoregulatory centers.
- Examination of neuronal activity in the preoptic/anterior hypothalamus during sleep and waking states.
Main Results:
- Sleep onset in humans features increased distal skin temperature, indicating heat loss.
- Autonomic nervous system and thermoeffector activity patterns vary between NREM and REM sleep.
- Warm-sensing neurons in the preoptic/anterior hypothalamus are activated during sleep onset and NREM sleep.
Conclusions:
- The preoptic/anterior hypothalamus integrates arousal and thermoregulation.
- Activation of specific neuronal populations in the hypothalamus during sleep contributes to CBT regulation and associated ANS/thermoeffector changes.
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