Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
J Sleep Res. 2018 Feb;27(1):47-55. doi: 10.1111/jsr.12569. Epub 2017 Jun 1.
Whilst the association between sleep and stress is well established, few studies have examined the effects of an anticipated stressor upon sleep and relevant physiological markers. The aim of the present study was to examine whether an anticipated stressor in the form of next-day demand affects subjective and objective sleep, and multiple indices of the cortisol awakening response. Subjective and objective sleep and the cortisol awakening response were measured over three consecutive nights in 40 healthy adults in a sleep laboratory. During their second night, participants were informed that they would either be required to complete a series of demanding cognitive tasks, in a competition format, during the next day (anticipation condition; n = 22), or were given no instruction (sedentary condition; n = 18). Sleep was measured subjectively using sleep diaries, objectively using polysomnography, and saliva was measured at awakening, +15, +30, +45 and +60 min each morning, from which cortisol awakening response measurement indices were derived: awakening cortisol levels, the mean increase in cortisol levels and total cortisol secretion. There were no between-group differences in subjective or objective sleep in the night preceding the anticipated demand; however, compared with the sedentary condition, those in the anticipation group displayed a larger mean increase in cortisol levels, representing the cortisol awakening response magnitude, on the morning of the anticipated demand. Overall, the results suggest that whilst anticipated stress affected the subsequent cortisol awakening response, subjective and objective sleep remained undisturbed. It is possible that the timing of an anticipated stressor, rather than its expected duration, may influence subsequent sleep disruption.
虽然睡眠和压力之间的关联已经得到充分证实，但很少有研究探讨预期压力源对睡眠和相关生理标志物的影响。本研究旨在探讨第二天的需求预期压力源是否会影响主观和客观睡眠以及皮质醇觉醒反应的多个指标。在睡眠实验室中，40 名健康成年人连续三晚测量主观和客观睡眠以及皮质醇觉醒反应。在他们的第二晚，参与者被告知他们将在第二天（预期条件；n=22）以竞争的形式完成一系列具有挑战性的认知任务，或者没有任何指示（久坐条件；n=18）。睡眠通过睡眠日记进行主观测量，通过多导睡眠图进行客观测量，并且在每天早晨唤醒时测量唾液，在+15、+30、+45 和+60 分钟时测量，从中得出皮质醇觉醒反应测量指标：唤醒时皮质醇水平、皮质醇水平的平均升高和总皮质醇分泌。在预期需求前一晚，两组间的主观或客观睡眠没有差异；然而，与久坐条件相比，预期组在预期需求当天早晨的皮质醇水平平均升高更大，代表皮质醇觉醒反应幅度。总体而言，结果表明，尽管预期压力源会影响随后的皮质醇觉醒反应，但主观和客观睡眠仍然不受干扰。预期压力源的时间安排，而不是预期持续时间，可能会影响随后的睡眠中断。
