Personality characteristics and sleep variables.

In a sleep study of 14 normal healthy adults an investigation was made of sleep measurements of a baseline record for its eventual relationship to the percentage of increase of REM percentage of the 1st recovery night following partial differential REM deprivation (PDRD), as well as to personality characteristics. The percentage of change in NREM sleep of the 1st recovery night was compared with the baseline record andthen compared with corresponding values of REM sleep. The results are summarized as follows. No significant correlation exists between the percentage of increase in the REM percentage of the 1st recovery night and sleep measures of the baseline record. An investigation of the relationship between sleep measures of the baseline record and personality characteristics revealed that stage SWS(%) was significantly greater in the introvert than in the extrovert, in the neurotic than in the non-neurotic, and in the nervous than in the optimistic. Comparison of the changes in NREM and REM sleep percentages of the 1st recovery night with the baseline record was made between paired personality characteristics. A significantly high percentage of increase in REM percentage was almost always associated with a significantly high percentage of decrease in stage 2 percentage. From these results it was inferred that an increase in REM percentage occurs at the expense of stage 2 percentage.