Circadian temperature and melatonin rhythms, sleep, and neurobehavioral function in humans living on a 20-h day

Circadian, Neuroendocrine and Sleep Disorders Section, Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 The interaction of homeostatic and circadian processes in the regulation of waking neurobehavioral funct...

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Published inAmerican journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology Vol. 277; no. 4; pp. 1152 - R1163
Main Authors Wyatt, James K, Cecco, Angela Ritz-De, Czeisler, Charles A, Dijk, Derk-Jan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.10.1999
Subjects
Adult
Behavior - physiology
Body Temperature - physiology
Circadian Rhythm
Female
Humans
Male
Melatonin - blood
Nervous System Physiological Phenomena
Photoperiod
Sleep - physiology
Sleep Stages - physiology
Wakefulness - physiology
NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology
Non-NASA Center
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Summary:Circadian, Neuroendocrine and Sleep Disorders Section, Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 The interaction of homeostatic and circadian processes in the regulation of waking neurobehavioral functions and sleep was studied in six healthy young subjects. Subjects were scheduled to 15-24 repetitions of a 20-h rest/activity cycle, resulting in desynchrony between the sleep-wake cycle and the circadian rhythms of body temperature and melatonin. The circadian components of cognitive throughput, short-term memory, alertness, psychomotor vigilance, and sleep disruption were at peak levels near the temperature maximum, shortly before melatonin secretion onset. These measures exhibited their circadian nadir at or shortly after the temperature minimum, which in turn was shortly after the melatonin maximum. Neurobehavioral measures showed impairment toward the end of the 13-h 20-min scheduled wake episodes. This wake-dependent deterioration of neurobehavioral functions can be offset by the circadian drive for wakefulness, which peaks in the latter half of the habitual waking day during entrainment. The data demonstrate the exquisite sensitivity of many neurobehavioral functions to circadian phase and the accumulation of homeostatic drive for sleep. circadian rhythms; performance; body temperature; alertness; memory
ISSN:0363-6119
0002-9513
1522-1490
DOI:10.1152/ajpregu.1999.277.4.r1152