Journal of Sleep Research

Mitochondrial diseases are rare genetic disorders often accompanied by severe sleep disorders. We present the case of a 12-year-old boy diagnosed with a severe primary mitochondrial disease, exhibiting ataxia, spasticity, progressive external ophthalmoplegia, cardiomyopathy and severely disrupted sleep, but no cognitive impairment. Interestingly, his parents reported improved sleep during night train rides. Based on this observation, we installed a rocking bed in the patient's bedroom and performed different interventions, including immersive multimodal vestibular, kinesthetic and auditory stimuli, reminiscent of the sensory experiences encountered during train rides...

Maternal sleep is closely related to subsequent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in natural pregnancies. However, whether this connection exists in pregnant women conceiving with the help of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has not been confirmed. Hence, in this study, we evaluated whether early pregnancy sleep duration or sleep quality is associated with gestational diabetes mellitus in ART-pregnant women, as well as the influence of maternal age on this association. This prospective birth cohort study included 856 pregnant women who successfully conceived with the help of ART treatment...

Poorer sleep is associated with poorer bone health among older adults but the role of sleep in bone health during younger adulthood is understudied. In this observational study, the averages and variability in total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), and sleep midpoint of university students were examined in relation to levels of bone turnover markers (BTMs) and bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine and femur. A sample of healthy, university students (N = 59, aged 18-25 years, 51...

The aim of the present study was to characterise "early drop-outs" (n = 3185) out of a group of university students (n = 7766) engaged in an ongoing circadian education initiative, to evaluate its efficacy and direct its developments. The initiative is aimed at improving sleep timing/quality through one of two sets of circadian hygiene advice covering the timing of sleep, meals, exercise and light exposure, and it has already been shown to have a positive effect on sleep timing. This second, interim analysis confirmed the high prevalence of disturbed night sleep and social jetlag amongst students at Padova University...

Insomnia is a primary symptom of shift work disorder, yet it remains undertreated. This randomised-controlled pilot trial examined the efficacy of a digital, guided cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia adapted to shift work (SleepCare) in nurses with shift work disorder. The hypothesis was that SleepCare reduces insomnia severity compared with a waitlist control condition. A total of 46 unmedicated nurses suffering from shift work disorder with insomnia (age: 39.7 ± 12.1 years; 80...

Obesity is the primary risk factor for the development of obstructive sleep apnea, and physical inactivity plays an important role. However, most studies have either only evaluated physical activity subjectively or objectively in obstructive sleep apnea. The objectives of this study were: (i) to assess the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea severity (both apnea-hypopnea index and desaturation parameters) and both objectively and subjectively measured physical activity after adjustment for anthropometry and body composition parameters; and (ii) to assess the relationship between objective and subjective physical activity parameters and whether obstructive sleep apnea severity has a modulatory effect on this relationship...

Elite athletes are vulnerable to sleep and circadian disruption and associated mental health symptoms. This study aimed to investigate sex differences in sleep, circadian rhythms, and mental health, as well as the moderating role of sex in the prediction of mental health, among male professional and female semi-professional elite athletes. Participants were 87 elite Australian Rules football (ARF) athletes (43% female; mean [standard deviation] age 24.0 [4.1] years). Participants completed baseline questionnaires, 2 weeks of sleep/wake monitoring via actigraphy, and a circadian phase assessment (dim-light melatonin onset [DLMO])...

Insomnia is a prevalent and disabling condition whose treatment is not always effective. This pilot study explores the feasibility and effects of closed-loop auditory stimulation (CLAS) as a potential non-invasive intervention to improve sleep, its subjective quality, and memory consolidation in patients with insomnia. A total of 27 patients with chronic insomnia underwent a crossover, sham-controlled study with 2 nights of either CLAS or sham stimulation. Polysomnography was used to record sleep parameters, while questionnaires and a word-pair memory task were administered to assess subjective sleep quality and memory consolidation...

Sleep loss is associated with reduced health and quality of life, and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Up to 66% of persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias experience poor sleep, which can predict or accelerate the progression of cognitive decline. Exercise is a widely accessible intervention for poor sleep that can protect against functional and cognitive decline. No previous systematic reviews have investigated the effectiveness of exercise for sleep in older adults with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease and related dementias...

The presence of a circadian cycle of cerebral blood flow may have implications for the occurrence of daily variations in cerebrovascular events in humans, but how cerebral blood flow varies throughout the day and its mechanism are still unclear. The study aimed to explore the diurnal variation of cerebral blood flow in healthy humans and its possible mechanisms. Arterial spin labelling images were collected at six time-points (09:00 hours, 13:00 hours, 17:00 hours, 21:00 hours, 01:00 hours, 05:00 hours) from 18 healthy participants (22-39 years old; eight females) to analyse diurnal variations in cerebral blood flow...

The present study evaluates the efficacy of behavioural therapy adapted for shift work disorder with a randomised control design in a healthcare population. Forty-three night shift workers (m. age: 34 years; 77% women) experiencing shift work disorder were randomised to either the behavioural therapy for shift work disorder (BT-SWD) or a waiting-list control group offered after the waiting period. Participants completed questionnaires on insomnia, sleepiness and mental health pre- and post-treatment, pre- and post-waiting, and at follow-up, and a sleep diary...

We assessed the relation between air pollution, weather, and adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy in a retrospective community-based repeated-measures study of adults with obstructive sleep apnea who purchased PAP devices from a registered provider between 2013 and 2017 (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) and had at least one day of data. Daily PAP-derived data, air pollution, and weather databases were linked using postal code. The exposures were mean nocturnal (8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.) (i) residential concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), fine particulate matter <=2...

Sleep restriction therapy is a behavioural component within cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia and is an effective standalone treatment for insomnia, but its effect on depressive symptoms remains unclear. This review aimed to synthesise and evaluate the impact of single-component sleep restriction therapy on depressive symptoms relative to a control intervention. We searched electronic databases and sleep-related journals for randomised controlled trials and uncontrolled clinical trials, published from 1 January 1986 until 19 August 2023, that delivered sleep restriction therapy to adults with insomnia...

Despite the high prevalence and significant health burden of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), its underlying pathophysiology remains incompletely understood. This comprehensive review explores the emerging connection between vitamin D deficiency and OSA, discusses potential mechanisms underlying this association, and explores the therapeutic implications of these findings. Recent research has consistently highlighted the high incidence of vitamin D deficiency among patients with OSA, which often occurs independently of geographical location...

Light exposure affects the circadian system and consequently can affect sleep quality. Only few studies examined this relationship in children. We evaluated associations between light exposure patterns and sleep metrics in children. We measured the sleep parameters of 247 Dutch children, aged between 11 and 13 years and recruited from the ABCD cohort, using actigraphy and sleep records for 7 consecutive nights. Personal light exposures were measured with a light meter during the whole day and night. We applied generalized mixed-effects regression models, adjusted for possible confounders, to evaluate the associations of light exposure patterns on sleep duration, sleep efficiency and sleep-onset delay...

Electroencephalograms can capture brain oscillatory activities during sleep as a form of electrophysiological signals. We analysed electroencephalogram recordings from full-night in-laboratory polysomnography from 100 patients with Down syndrome, and 100 age- and sex-matched controls. The ages of patients with Down syndrome spanned 1 month to 31 years (median 4.4 years); 84 were younger than 12 years, and 54 were male. From each electroencephalogram, we extracted relative power in six frequency bands or rhythms (delta, theta, alpha, slow sigma, fast sigma, and beta) from six channels (frontal F3 and F4, central C3 and C4, and occipital O1 and O2) during five sleep stages (N3, N2, N1, R and W)-180 features in all...

Sleep-disordered breathing is common in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with increased perioperative morbidity, arrhythmias (e.g. atrial fibrillation) and mortality. This study investigated the impact of sleep-disordered breathing on the postoperative course after coronary artery bypass grafting, including development of atrial fibrillation. This prospective single-centre cohort study included adults undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting...

The present study aims to investigate the influence of 24-hr sleep deprivation on implicit emotion regulation using the emotional conflict task. Twenty-five healthy young adults completed a repeated-measures study protocol involving a night of at-home normal sleep control and a night of in-laboratory sleep deprivation. Prior to the experimental session, all participants wore an actigraph watch and completed the sleep diary. Following each condition, participants performed an emotional conflict task with electroencephalographic recordings...

This study aimed to reveal the pathophysiology of isolated rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) in patients using multilayer network analysis. Participants eligible for isolated RBD were included and verified via polysomnography. Both iRBD patients and healthy controls underwent brain MRI, including T1-weighted imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. Grey matter matrix was derived from T1-weighted images using a morphometric similarity network. White matter matrix was formed from diffusion tensor imaging-based structural connectivity...

Oxidative stress in patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with a low-grade systemic inflammation, immune disturbance, and increased invasion of monocytes into the endothelium. Besides continuous positive airway pressure (PAP), hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS) has become a promising treatment option for patients with OSAS. We aimed to analyse the influence of HNS therapy on the cellular characteristics relevant for adhesion and immune regulation of circulating CD14/CD16 monocyte subsets...