Revisiting nocturnal heart rate and heart rate variability in insomnia: A polysomnography-based comparison of young self-reported good and poor sleepers.

ABSTRACT: Primary insomnia is often considered a disorder of 24-hr hyperarousal. Numerous attempts have been made to investigate nocturnal heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV) as potential pathophysiological hallmarks of altered arousal levels in insomnia, with mixed results. We have aimed to overcome some of the pitfalls of previous studies by using a young, medication-free, age- and gender-matched population consisting of 43 students aged 18-30 years half with a subthreshold insomnia complaint. We employed at-home ambulatory polysomnography and compared this attenuated insomnia group to a good sleeping group. The poor sleepers had significantly higher wake after sleep onset, arousal count, mean HR in all sleep stages (with the exception of Stage 1) and lower sleep efficiency. Consistent with

SUBMITTER: Cosgrave J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8577225 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature