Autonomic regulation across sleep and wake during an Antarctic overwintering.

ABSTRACT: Isolated, confined and extreme environments like Antarctic overwinterings present significant challenges to human psychophysiological adaptation. While previous evidence suggests that such conditions affect autonomic response, the extent to which human physiology adapts, in particular, the sleep-wake cycle and circadian rhythms, remains unclear. To assess the impact of prolonged isolation and the polar night on autonomic nervous system activity, we conducted an observational and longitudinal study at Belgrano II Argentine Antarctic station over a year-long campaign. Heart rate variability, a measure of cardiac autonomic modulation, was computed in 13 crewmembers over 24-hour periods every two months. Analysis revealed a decrease in parasympathetic regulation during wakefulness and an incre

SUBMITTER: Tortello C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12804826 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature