Hiroshima International University, Japan.
Percept Mot Skills. 2011 Feb;112(1):138-50. doi: 10.2466/09.13.PMS.112.1.138-150.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of chronic stress on the first-night effect in terms of autonomic nervous system activity and anxiety. Participants (N = 11; M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 0.47) included six with high stress (High stress group) and five with low stress (Low stress group), for whom all EEG data were available from three consecutive nights. Heart rate variability was calculated using the MemCalc method. The ratio of low to high frequency of heart rate variability before sleep onset in the High stress group on the first night indicated significantly higher activities than the ratio before sleep onset in the Low stress group. No significant difference in sleep latency was found between the two groups. However, the High stress group was more aware of anxiety than was the Low stress group, and the former estimated more subjective difficulty in falling asleep. These results suggest that measuring LF/HF before sleep may constitute a new way to assess chronic stress.
本研究旨在探讨慢性应激对自主神经系统活动和焦虑的第一夜效应的影响。参与者（N=11；M 年龄=20.3 岁，SD=0.47）包括六名高应激者（高应激组）和五名低应激者（低应激组），他们的所有 EEG 数据均来自连续三个晚上。使用 MemCalc 方法计算心率变异性。高应激组在第一夜入睡前的低频与高频心率变异性比值高于低应激组入睡前的比值。两组的睡眠潜伏期无显著差异。然而，高应激组比低应激组更能意识到焦虑，前者估计入睡更主观困难。这些结果表明，在睡前测量 LF/HF 可能成为评估慢性应激的一种新方法。
