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Biomedical subjects

R J Berger

Publications and source records attributed to R J Berger.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Cessation of thermoregulation during REM sleep in the pocket mouse.

Electrophysiological sleep patterns, respiration frequency, brain temperature (Tbr), and ear temperature (Tear) were recorded from five pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris) exposed to ambient temperatures (Ta) of 22.5, 27.5, 32.5, and 35.0 degrees C. Thermoregulation was curtailed during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, since Tbr declined following REM onsets at Ta's below thermoneutrality and increased at Ta's above thermoneutrality. Tbr subsequently returned to pre-REM levels following the termination of each REM episode. Respiratory frequency was inversely related to Ta but not as strongly during REM sleep as during slow-wave sleep (SWS). These results confirm previous reports of loss of thermoregulatory ability during REM sleep. Mean duration and proportions of wakefulness, SWS, and REM sleep were unaffected by Ta, consistent with earlier findings on ground squirrels, but differing from reports of decreased REM sleep in nonhibernators. Hibernators may have lower peripheral thermosensitivities than nonhibernators, facilitating sleep at low ambient temperatures and during entrance into hibernation.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Hibernation at moderate temperatures: a continuation of slow wave sleep.

Golden-mantled ground squirrels (Citellus lateralis) displayed virtually continuous electrophysiological states of sleep when hibernating at moderate ambient temperatures (22 degrees C). Rapid-eye-movement sleep progressively diminished with the fall in body temperature so that at a body temperature of 23 degrees C it was completely absent. At this temperature hibernation was characterized by slow wave sleep isomorphic with slow wave sleep episodes at non-hibernating (euthermic) body temperatures.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

The effects of high and low ambient temperatures on human sleep stages.

Six male subjects slept nude except for shorts on a bed made from nylon webbing at 5 different ambient temperatures (TaS): 21, 24, 29 (thermoneutrality), 34 and 37 degrees C. Standard electrophysiological recordings were obtained and analyzed for sleep stages. Temperature displayed a significant quadratic trends for nearly every sleep variable, such that TaS above or below thermoneutrality had similar effects on sleep patterns. Multiple comparisons showed that 21 degrees C was the most disruptive condition, and that cold TaS were generally more disruptive to sleep than warm TaS. There were marked individual differences in sensitivity of sleep to cold. Decreases in REM sleep in humans produced by heat or cold probably result from a general disruption of sleep processes rather than being specifically related to the status of the thermoregulatory system during REM sleep.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Metabolism and thermoregulation during stages of sleep in humans exposed to heat and cold.

Electrophysiological stages of sleep, oxygen consumption (VO2), and skin (Tsk) and rectal (Tre) temperatures were recorded from six virtually naked male subjects exposed to ambient temperatures (Ta) of 21, 24, 29, 34, and 37 degrees C. VO2 increased during sleep as a whole as Ta departed from thermoneutrality (29 degrees C) and was significantly greater during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep than during adjacent nonrapid-eye-movement (NREM) periods at low and high Ta but not at 29 degrees C. Tsk showed small but significant increases during REM sleep at 29, 34, and 37 degrees C, but Tre did not change during REM sleep at any Ta. Shivering was present during wakefulness at 21 and 24 degrees C but occurred only occasionally during stages 1 and 2 sleep at 21 degrees C. The increases in VO2 and the absence of marked changes in vasomotor tone during REM sleep in the cold were unexpected and possibly indicate that REM sleep is not as thermally disruptive in humans as in other mammals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

The ontogenesis of sleep states, thermogenesis, and thermoregulation in the Virginia opossum.

Polygraphic recordings of sleep and wakefulness were obtained over 4-hr periods from infant opossums, aged 48-79 days, while they were in the mothers' pouches. Concurrent body temperature measurements were obtained from littermates held at ambient temperatures of 25 and 30 degrees C. The ontogenesis of sleep was similar to that of placental mammals: quiet sleep increased from 13% sleep time at 48 days to 55% at 79 days; conversely, active sleep decreased from 87% to 45%, respectively. the amplitude of the electroencephalogram (EEG) during quiet sleep increased with age and quiet sleep could be categorized as slow wave sleep at 75 days. Active sleep could be identified as rapid eye movement sleep at the same age. Temperature measurements revealed that thermogenesis appeared at approximately 55 days and the 1st signs of thermoregulation were apparent at 67 days. Near-adult thermoregulatory capabilities were present by 79 days. Increases in percent time spent in quiet sleep corresponded with increases in percent adult thermogenesis. The appearance of slow wave EEG activity coincided with the onset of thermoregulatory capabilities. We suggest that lowered metabolism associated with slow wave sleep is adaptive in offsetting the increased energy demands of thermogenesis.

Aging↗
PubMed1979

Sleep and estivation (shallow torpor): continuous processes of energy conservation.

Estivation (shallow torpor) in the round-tailed ground squirrel (Citellus tereticaudus) is entered through electrophysiologically defined states of sleep. Rapid-eye-movement sleep diminishes as body temperature falls in such a way that, at a body temperature of 26 degrees to 28 degrees C, torpor is characterized by almost continuous slow-wave sleep isomorphic with that observed at euthermic body temperatures.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Sleep and hibernation in ground squirrels (Citellus spp): electrophysiological observations.

Electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooculogram, electromyogram, and electrocardiogram were recorded from ground squirrels (Citellus beldingi and C. lateralis) during the summer and also during the hibernation season. Summer recordings revealed that the animals spent an average of 66% of the 24-h period asleep (49% of the 12-h light period and 84% of the 12-h dark period); 19% of the total sleep time (TST) consisted of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, and 81% of TST consisted of slow-wave sleep (SWS). Recordings obtained during the hibernation season showed that hibernation was entered through sleep, but the distribution of sleep states was different than in euthermic sleep. During the early entrance when brain temperature (Tbr) was between 35 and 25 degrees C, the animals were asleep 88% of the time, but only 10% of the TST was spent in REM sleep. The EEG amplitude declined with decreased Tbr so that classical sleep stages could not be identified below a Tbr of 25 degrees C. The frequency of the EEG increased as Tbr decreased; but activity in the 0-4 cycles/s band occupied the majority of the record even at a Tbr of 10 degrees C. Below a Tbr of 10 degrees C the EEG was isoelectric except for intermittent bursts of spindles. It was concluded from these and other results that the entrance into hibernation represents an extension of the thermoregulatory adjustments that occur during SWS.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

The effects of changing the phase and duration of sleep.

The relative effects of extended sleep, reduced sleep, and shifts of habitual sleep time on subsequent performance and mood were studied. Ten healthy male university students who regularly sleep 9.5-10.5 hr were the subjects. Measurements were obtained from a 45-min auditory vigilance task, a 5-min experimenter-paced addition task and a mood adjective check list 30 min after awakening, at midday, and in the evening following five electroencephalographically recorded nights of sleep. The experimental treatments compromised at 9.5-10.5 hr habitual sleep condition and four conditions in which the regular sleep period was lengthened, reduced, delayed, and advanced by 3hr. Following each 3-hr altered condition of sleep there was an equivalent decline in vigilance performance and in subjective arousal as measured by the mood scales. Together with other recent evidence, the present results support the hypothesis that acute disruption of the 24-hr sleep-wakefulness cycle produces degradations in human performance largely independent of total sleep time.

Arousal↗
PubMed1975

Sleep during Transcendental Meditation.

Electroencephalograms (EEGs) and DC electrooculograms (EOGs) were recorded during Transcendental Meditation periods for 8 experienced Ss. The records, scored blind showed that all but 2 Ss spent considerable portions of their meditation periods in unambiguous physiological sleep.

Arousal↗
PubMed1975

Bioenergetic functions of sleep and activity rhythms and their possible relevance to aging.

The hypothesis is proposed that sleep constitutes a period of dormancy in which energy is conserved to partially offset the increased energy demands of homeothermy. Phylogenetic data indicate that the complete psysiological and behavioral manifestations of sleep are unique to homeotherms; furthermore "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" in the parallel development of slow wave sleep and thermoregulation as exemplified in the opossum. Thus, sleep constitutes a state of reduced metabolism that may represent a variation on the theme of dormancy, functionally lying on a continuum of energy conservation processes, ranging from inactivity and estivation to torpor and hibernation. The high amounts of sleep in infancy may involve conservation of energy and its consequent availability for growth. Decreased amounts of stage 4 and total sleep with aging in humans may represent reduced energy demands reflected by parallel declines in basal metabolic rate and physical activity. Disruptions of circadian rhythms of sleep and wakefulness in humans produce impairments in mood and performance independent of total amounts of sleep obtained, and reduce the amplitude of physiological rhythms. It is suggested that aging processes might also be affected by such disruptions in activity rhythms.

Aging↗