The influence of aging on sleep structure and the REM-NREM sleep cycle

睡眠是一种高度有组织的行为状态，受昼夜节律、体内平衡和超昼夜过程的调节。测量这些过程相互作用的最佳方法是多导睡眠图（PSG）。这种方法可以描述睡眠的时间结构和不同电生理变量（脑电图、眼电图、肌电图和其他信号，如心电图和呼吸）的相互作用。在人的一生中，睡眠经历着显著的变化，其特征是总睡眠时间和慢波睡眠时间的减少，睡眠中断的增加和浅睡眠的增加。虽然所有这些变化都得到了横断面研究的证实，但从青年到老年的个人纵向睡眠发展的证据有限。绝大多数基于psg的纵向睡眠研究涵盖的时间不超过10年。本研究的目的是对一组正常受试者的睡眠进行重新测试，这些受试者在35年前年轻时（年龄范围：20至30岁）接受过睡眠测试。这些研究对象之所以特别有趣，是因为他们每个人的睡眠都被记录了连续14个晚上或更长时间。因此，每个人在年轻时都知道各种PSG参数和睡眠模式的个体内部稳定性。在早期睡眠研究的19名受试者中，目前已联系到13人，并同意参加连续3晚的睡眠实验室随访研究。第一个晚上被定义为适应之夜。

Sleep is a highly organized behavioral state that is regulated by circadian, homeostatic and ultradian processes. The best method available to measure the interaction of these processes is polysomnography (PSG). This method allows to delineate the temporal structure of sleep and the interaction of different electrophysiological variables (electroencephalogram, electrooculogram, electromyogram and other signals such as ECG and respiration). Sleep undergoes significant changes over the life span, which are characterized by a decrease in total sleep time and slow-wave sleep, an increase in sleep interruptions and an increase in shallow sleep. While all of these changes were confirmed by cross-sectional studies, there is only limited evidence for the intrapersonal longitudinal sleep development from young adulthood to old age. The vast majority of PSG-based longitudinal sleep studies cover a period of less than 10 years. The aim of the present study is to retest sleep in a group of normal subjects whose sleep was examined more than 35 years ago when they were young (age range: 20 to 30 years). These subjects are of particular interest because sleep was recorded for 14 consecutive nights or more in each of them. Thus, the intra-individual stability of the various PSG parameters and sleep patterns is known for each person at a young age. Of the 19 subjects in the early sleep study, 13 persons have been contacted so far and agreed to participate in a sleep laboratory follow-up study for 3 consecutive nights. The first night is defined as adaptation night.