Czeisler C A, Dumont M, Duffy J F, Steinberg J D, Richardson G S, Brown E N, Sánchez R, Ríos C D, Ronda J M
Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115-5817.
Lancet. 1992 Oct 17;340(8825):933-6. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(92)92817-y.
Many elderly people complain of disturbed sleep patterns but there is not evidence that the need to sleep decreases with age; it seems rather that the timing and consolidation of sleep change. We tried to find out whether there is a concurrent change in the output of the circadian pacemaker with age. The phase and amplitude of the pacemaker's output were assessed by continuous measurement of the core body temperature during 40 h of sustained wakefulness under constant behavioural and environmental conditions. 27 young men (18-31 years) were compared with 21 older people (65-85 years; 11 men, 10 women); all were healthy and without sleep complaints. The mean amplitude of the endogenous circadian temperature oscillation (ECA) was 40% greater in young men than in the older group. Older men had a lower mean temperature ECA than older women. The minimum of the endogenous phase of the circadian temperature oscillation (ECP) occurred 1 h 52 min earlier in the older than in the young group. Customary bedtimes and waketimes were also earlier in the older group, as was their daily alertness peak. There was a close correlation between habitual waketime and temperature ECP in young men, which may lose precision with age, especially among women. These findings provide evidence for systematic age-related changes in the output of the human circadian pacemaker. We suggest that these changes may underlie the common complaints of sleep disturbance among elderly people. These changes could reflect the observed age-related deterioration of the hypothalamic nuclei that drive mammalian circadian rhythms.
许多老年人抱怨睡眠模式紊乱，但没有证据表明睡眠需求会随着年龄增长而减少；似乎睡眠的时间安排和巩固过程发生了变化。我们试图弄清楚随着年龄增长，昼夜节律起搏器的输出是否会同时发生变化。在行为和环境条件恒定的情况下，通过在持续清醒40小时期间连续测量核心体温来评估起搏器输出的相位和幅度。将27名年轻男性（18 - 31岁）与21名老年人（65 - 85岁；11名男性，10名女性）进行比较；所有参与者均健康且无睡眠问题。年轻男性内源性昼夜体温振荡（ECA）的平均幅度比老年组高40%。老年男性的平均体温ECA低于老年女性。昼夜体温振荡（ECP）内源性相位的最小值在老年组比年轻组提前1小时52分钟出现。老年组的习惯就寝时间和起床时间也更早，他们的每日警觉高峰也是如此。年轻男性的习惯起床时间与体温ECP之间存在密切相关性，这种相关性可能会随着年龄增长而失去精确性，尤其是在女性中。这些发现为人类昼夜节律起搏器输出中与年龄相关的系统性变化提供了证据。我们认为这些变化可能是老年人常见睡眠障碍抱怨的潜在原因。这些变化可能反映了观察到的驱动哺乳动物昼夜节律的下丘脑核团与年龄相关的退化。
