Cardiocirculatory disorders and sleep

2003 
Since the advent of polysomnography, cardiocirculatory changes during sleep in normal subjects have been extensively monitored by recording a wide range of physiological parameters. These recordings demonstrated not only that the influence of the autonomic nervous system varied widely in sleep compared with wakefulness, but that it also behaved differently in NREM sleep and REM sleep. There is general agreement that vagal tone prevails in each sleep stage with respect to wakefulness, but how this occurs remains controversial. According to some [27], sympathetic tone diminishes in NREM sleep and rises again in REM sleep. On the basis of experiments in the cat, others have postulated an increase in vagal tone mainly in NREM sleep [2]. The phasic changes in neurovegetative function during REM sleep in man are thought to be due to both sudden inhibitions in vagal activity and abrupt increases in sympathetic activity. Since most pathological events involving the cardiocirculatory apparatus are influenced by the autonomic nervous system, it would be logical to assume that sleep also plays a prominent role.
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