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Nighttime Drop in Body Temperature: A Physiological Trigger for Sleep Onset?
Abstract
Relationships between changes in the slope of the body temperature (BT) and the initiation of sleep were examined in 44 subjects ranging from 19 to 82 years of age. Following an adaptation night, subjects remained in the laboratory for a baseline night and 72 hours in temporal and social isolation, with strictly limited behavioral options ("disentrainment") during which continuous electroencephalograph (EEG) and BT were recorded. Polysomnographic sleep variables (e.g. sleep onset, percentage of each sleep stage) were determined for nighttime sleep periods at baseline and during the disentrainment period. Periods of the BT curve surrounding these sleep bouts were examined for minute to minute changes, and the time at which the maximum rate of decline (MROD) in temperature occurred was compared with the time of sleep onset (SO) and sleep quality parameters. On the baseline night, the MROD occurred, on average, 60 minutes prior to SO. During disentrainment, the MROD occurred, on average, 44 minutes prior to SO. The proximity of MROD to SO did not affect subsequent sleep quality on the baseline night, but during disentrainment, there were significant correlations between the interval from MROD to sleep onset and the amount of slow-wave sleep (SWS) obtained during the sleep bout. There were no significant age differences on variables related to MROD on baseline night, but the timing of both MROD and SO were significantly advanced in older, relative to younger, subjects during the disentrainment period. It is suggested that a rapid decline in core body temperature increases the likelihood of sleep initiation and may facilitate an entry into the deeper stages of sleep.
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“Several mechanisms that provide a rationale for the improvement in insomnia symptoms from exercise have been suggested [133,136,137,138,139]; these include but are not limited to reducing core body temperature for sleep onset [140,141,142,143], increasing melatonin and serotonin secretion [131,144], reducing depression and anxiety, and improving autonomic regulation which may reduce hyperarousal”
From The Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review (2024) · cites this paper as [142]
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Items 201–220 of 220
Schlafbezogene Atmungsstörungen und Gynäkologie
Orth, M., & Rasche, K. (2022) · Somnologie - Schlafforschung und Schlafmedizin · doi:10.1007/s11818-022-00377-1
Short-term countermeasures for sleep loss effects
Poon, C., & Hardin, K. A. (2022) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-822963-7.00271-1 · Cited by 1
Rigney, G., Gulati, P., Corkum, P. V., & Weiss, S. K. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-20792-1_38
da Silva, A. L. A., Vieira, E. C., Ritter, W. R. G., Rauber, S. B., Lewis, J. E., & Campbell, C. S. G. (2023) · Brazilian Journal of Health Review · doi:10.34119/bjhrv6n3-224
Erregungszustände, Symptome, Verhalten, Schlaf und Körpertemperatur
Brown, R. F., & Thorsteinsson, E. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-55637-1_7
Übergewicht/Fettleibigkeit und gleichzeitige Störungen, Symptome, Verhalten und Körpertemperatur
Brown, R. F., & Umar, Y. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-55637-1_3
Brown, R. F., & Thorsteinsson, E. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-55637-1_9
Brown, R. F., & Thorsteinsson, E. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-55637-1_2
Environmental Control with In-Bed Airflow to Improve Sleep Quality
Aoki, T., Maruyama, H., Yamamoto, K., et al. (2025) · International Conference on Consumer Electronics · doi:10.1109/icce63647.2025.10929893
“Previous studies have reported that lowering core body temperature during sleep is effective in promoting smooth sleep onset and slow-wave sleep [2].”
Goda, T., Lopez, O. M., Ramolete, R., Reinhard, N., Ulle, N., Fukuda, A., Umezaki, Y., Rizvi, K., Aikawa, M. G., Catiis, R., et al. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.02.19.706827
Sleep Disordered Breathing Severity Alters Overnight Temperature Changes in Children
Plunkett, G., Shetty, M., Vaz‐Serra, M., Delanaud, S., Nisbet, L. C., Davey, M. J., Nixon, G. M., Horne, R. S. C., & Bach, V. (2026) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/jsr.70340
“…are closely related to variations in body temperature: falling asleep generally occurs in the period when there is a decrease in internal temperature while spontaneous morning awakening is associated with an increase in internal temperature (Campbell and Broughton 1994; Murphy and Campbell 1997).”
Effets bénéfiques de l’activité physique dans le syndrome d’apnées-hypopnées obstructives du sommeil
Berger, M. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/d3531801z859dz425eza023zb8d6d34cfb64
Baron, P. (2023) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/d24294fdz30a1z42eezae8ez00ac4cfb8be8
Hatamiya, N. S., Holmes, K. E., Grosicki, G. J., Swisher, J., Duffaut, C. J., Vail, J., Logan-Sprenger, H. M., Donohoe, B., Fielding, F., Chapman, C. J., et al. (2026) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-026-02455-y · Cited by 2
“Heat and humidity disrupt sleep architecture by impairing the normal decline in core body temperature required for initiating and maintaining deep, restorative sleep [206].”
Jouvencel, A., Willoughby, A. R., Leong, R. L. F., & Chee, M. W. L. (2026) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2026.109074
Li, X. J., Gao, W., Li, Z., Zhu, J., Wang, Y., & Li, M. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1865603
“This post-exercise decline in body temperature coincides with the body’s natural pre-sleep thermoregulatory rhythm and is widely recognized as a (59).”
The effect of evening swimming exercise on sleep parameters in male swimmers
Furukawa, H., Natsui, T., Chugun, T., Tomiishi, C., Mizuno, R., Maeoka, Y., & Goto, K. (2026) · Physiological Reports · doi:10.14814/phy2.71050
“Heat dissipation through peripheral vasodilation in distal regions (hands and feet) facilitates sleep initiation (Kräuchi, 2007; Murphy & Campbell, 1997).”
Jex, J., Downs, A. L., Kamhout, S., Wright, I. D., Wright, A., Zhang, V., & Duraccio, K. M. (2026) · Frontiers in Sleep · doi:10.3389/frsle.2026.1826938
Weekend warrior physical activity pattern in relation to sleep outcomes in United States adults
Fan, Z., Fan, Z., Wang, H., Zhou, H., Wang, T., Dong, S., & He, H. (2026) · The American Journal of the Medical Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.amjms.2026.08.008
Metadata
- Authors
- Murphy, P. J., & Campbell, S. S.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Murphy, Patricia J.
- ORCID
- Murphy, Patricia J.
- Venue
- Sleep
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1997-07
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 505-511
- ISSN
- 0161-8105 (ISSN-L)
- 1550-9109
- OpenAlex
- W40362193
- Cited by
- 222
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 0.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- SLEEP (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (2k02mh001099-06, 5r01mh045067-14)
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG012112, R01 AG-12112)
- National Institute of Mental Health (K02 MH-01099, R01-MH45067)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Keywords
- sleep onset, core body temperature, circadian rhythm, social isolation, slow-wave sleep, sleep quality, aging, age differences in sleep
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aging, Body Temperature, Electroencephalography, Electrooculography, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Sleep Stages, Sleep, REM, Time Factors, Wakefulness
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