Cited by 218Sleep and related disordersSleep and Wakefulness ResearchCircadian rhythm and melatonin

Skin deep: enhanced sleep depth by cutaneous temperature manipulation

Raymann, Roy J. E. M., Swaab, Dick F., Van Someren, Eus J. W.·2008·Brain

Abstract

With ageing, an increasingly disturbed sleep is reported as a significant complaint affecting the health and well-being of many people. The available treatments for sleep disturbance have their limitations, so we have adopted a different approach to the improvement of sleep. Since in animal and human studies skin warming has been found to increase neuronal activity in brain areas that are critically involved in sleep regulation, we investigated whether subtle skin temperature manipulations could improve human sleep. By employing a thermosuit to control skin temperature during nocturnal sleep, we demonstrate that induction of a mere 0.4 degrees C increase in skin temperature, whilst not altering core temperature, suppresses nocturnal wakefulness (P<0.001) and shifts sleep to deeper stages (P<0.001) in young and, especially, in elderly healthy and insomniac participants. Elderly subjects showed such a pronounced sensitivity, that the induced 0.4 degrees C increase in skin temperature was sufficient to almost double the proportion of nocturnal slow wave sleep and to decrease the probability of early morning awakening from 0.58 to 0.04. Therefore, skin warming strongly improved the two most typical age-related sleep problems; a decreased slow wave sleep and an increased risk of early morning awakening. EEG frequency spectra showed enhancement of low-frequency cortical oscillations. The results indicate that subtle feedback control of in-bed temperature through very mild manipulations could have strong clinical relevance in the management of disturbed sleep especially in the elderly, who have an attenuated behavioural response to suboptimal environmental temperature, which may hamper them from taking appropriate action to optimize their bed temperature.

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Crossref · 10.1093/brain/awm315

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  • Mild skin warming facilitates sleep onset and promotes slow wave sleep and sleep maintenance.

    “while mild skin warming facilitates sleep onset [67, 71] and promotes slow wave sleep and sleep maintenance [33, 69].”

    From Sleep, vigilance, and thermosensitivity (2012) · cites this paper as [69]

  • Complaints of early morning awakening may only be alleviated using direct skin temperature manipulation, as demonstrated in lab studies.

    “which may only be alleviated using direct skin temperature manipulation, as demonstrated in our lab studies [69].”

    From Sleep, vigilance, and thermosensitivity (2012) · cites this paper as [69]

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Authors
Raymann, R. J. E. M., Swaab, D. F., & Van Someren, E. J. W.
Affiliations
Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NL)
Venue
Brain
Published
2008-01-11
Volume
131
Issue
2
Pages
500-513
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
OpenAlex
W2145219354
Cited by
218
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 13
FWCI
14.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion)
  • KNAW Research Portal (The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • TNO Repository (submittedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • ZonMw
  • Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
  • Japan Foundation for Aging and Health
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
Keywords
sleep depth, skin temperature, skin warming, slow-wave sleep, early morning awakening, nocturnal wakefulness, insomnia, older adults, sleep regulation, cortical oscillations, ambient temperature
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aging, Body Temperature Regulation, Brain, Electroencephalography, Female, Heating, Humans, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Male, Middle Aged, Skin Temperature, Sleep Stages, Wakefulness, Polysomnography

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