The effects on cardiovascular autonomic control of repetitive arousal from sleep

Abstract

Study Objectives: To quantitatively assess autonomic cardiovascular control in normal young adults following exposure to repetitive acoustically-induced arousals from sleep. Design: Respiration, R-R interval (RRI) and noninvasive measurements of continuous arterial blood pressure were monitored in subjects during the transition from relaxed wakefulness to stable Stage 2 sleep. These measurements were made under undisturbed conditions or conditions in which transient arousals were induced repetitively by acoustic stimulation. A mathematical model was used to partition the fluctuations in RRI into a component ("RSA") correlated with respiration and a component ("ABR") representing baroreflex c..