Libert J P, Candas V, Muzet A, Ehrhart J
J Physiol (Paris). 1982;78(3):251-7.
The present study was performed on five nude male subjects by increasing the ambient temperature during well-established slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep episodes. 1. Air temperature was raised from 25 to 41 degrees C at rates of + 0.8 degrees C.min-1 or + 1.6 degrees C min-1 and, afterwards, was maintained at 41 degrees C during 10 min before returning to the initial pre-heating condition. During these thermal transients, wall temperatures (Tw), dew-point temperature (Tdp) and air velocity (Va) were kept constant (Tw = 37.5 degrees C; Tdp = 10 degrees C; Va = 0.3 m.s.-1). Physiological data included 3 EEGs, 2 EOGs, 4 EMGs, heart rate, finger pulse amplitude, esophageal temperature and 10 local skin temperatures. Upper chest sweating rate was recorded by a 12 cm2-capsule using a dew-point hygrometer technique. 2. The results showed that during REM sleep sweat gland activity persists at a lower level than during SWS. The lower sensitivity of the thermoregulatory system described during the REM sleep episodes could be interpreted by an increase of the hypothalamic set-point temperature, or by an action of extra-hypothalamic thermosensitive neurons. However, a change at the sweat gland level cannot be ruled out.
