Main trends in rectal temperature during sleep. Hypnogram and thermogram.

Abstract

Changes in sleep state and night-time body temperature were studied in 13 healthy young men. Temperature data showed serial dependence that was removed when considering three main segments of the thermogram: an initial rapid drop between 60 and 140 min after lights off, followed by a slower decrease to the thermal minimum and a final temperature increase until waking. The first segment was fitted by a two-term function, while the other two segments were fitted by linear regression. Temperature data obtained after fitting these models were stationary and used to calculate the fast Fourier transformation and the cross-correlation functions between the hypnogram and the thermogram of each subject. Attaining stationarity has unmasked short oscillations during sleep and some temperature series showed the presence of ultradian oscillations with a period of 90-100 min. Significant cross-correlations between sleep stages and body temperature were found, and the parameters of the two-term function fitted to the first temperature drop were related to the sign of the correlation and to that time series (sleep or temperature) which preceded the other during the night.