Behaviorally
Signaled Awakenings During a Nocturnal Sleep in Humans: The Special
Preference to REM Sleep and Their Coupling with NREM/REM Cycle
T. Hono, K. Matsunaka, Y. Hiroshige, Y. Miyata |
This
study examined the relationships between behaviorally signaled awakenings
(BSAs) and sleep stage or NREM/REM cycle during nocturnal sleep in
humans. Polysomnogram was recorded in the laboratory from five adult
males and five adult females for six successive nights. They were
instructed to press a button four times (behaviorally signaled awakenings;
BSAs) whenever they perceived their own awakenings from sleep. The
results indicated that BSAs occurred more preferentially from REM
sleep than from NREM sleep, that 55.1 % of BSAs from REM sleep terminated
REM sleep, and that BSAs from NREM sleep tended to occur more frequently
as nearing the onset of REM sleep. It is suggested that REM sleep
is a state in which spontaneous awakenings preferentially occur during
nocturnal sleep and that the period of transition between REM and
NREM sleep is the time when behaviorally spontaneous awakenings from
sleep are most likely.
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