Blood pressure and heart rate during continuous experimental sleep fragmentation in healthy adults

Abstract

Study Objectives: This paper aims to determine whether experimental arousals from sleep delay the sleep related fall in cardiovascular activity in healthy adults. Design: We report the results of 2 studies. The first experiment manipulated arousals from sleep in young adults. The second compared the effect of frequent arousals on young and middle-aged adults. The influence of arousals were assessed in 2 ways; (1) the fall in cardiovascular activity over sleep onset and the early sleep period, and (2) the underlying sleep levels during the sleep periods in between arousals. Setting: Both experiments were conducted in the sleep laboratory of the Department of Psychology, The University of Melb..