Cited by 91Sleep and Wakefulness ResearchSleep and Work-Related FatigueThermoregulation and physiological responses

Waking up properly: Is there a role of thermoregulation in sleep inertia?

Kräuchi, Kurt, Cajochen, Christian, Wirz‐Justice, Anna·2004·Journal of Sleep Research

Abstract

We assume that alertness should be highest at the end of a sleep episode: it is not. There is always sleep inertia upon awakening, which can last minutes to hours, and whose underlying physiological mechanisms are largely unknown. Previously, we had found a functional relationship between the degree of distal vasodilatation (as measured by the distal-proximal skin temperature gradient (DPG) and sleepiness (as measured by subjective ratings), promoting rapid sleep onset. This led us to hypothesize that the dissipation of sleep inertia (sleepiness) would be associated with reverse thermoregulatory mechanisms, i.e. distal vasoconstriction. In two sets of experiments with either a nocturnal sleep episode (study 1) or an afternoon nap (study 2) we could show that vasodilatation of hands and feet increased after lights off and that this was reversed after lights on. The time course of the DPG was significantly and positively correlated with subjective sleepiness (KSS), reflecting similar temporal relationships in both studies 1 and 2. The extremities cooled at a rate very closely parallel to the decay of sleepiness [time constants for the exponential decline calculated for study 2: DPG, 0.286 +/- 0.048 h versus KSS, 0.332 +/- 0.050 h; NS], indicating redistribution of heat from the shell to the core during dissipation of sleepiness. There was no statistical evidence that the time course of sleep inertia and its thermophysiological correlates depend on sleep structure prior to awakening. The symmetry between the thermoregulatory processes initiating sleepiness and those dissipating it is striking. In order to directly test our hypothesis, further studies with thermophysiological interventions (e.g. cooling the extremities) are needed.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2004.00398.x

Cites

26 of 26 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kräuchi, K., Cajochen, C., & Wirz‐Justice, A.
Affiliations
Universitäre Psychiatrische Kliniken Basel (CH)
Venue
Journal of Sleep Research
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2004-05-26
Volume
13
Issue
2
Pages
121-127
ISSN
  • 0962-1105 (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2869
OpenAlex
W2065354622
Cited by
91
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 2
FWCI
2.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Sleep Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
Keywords
sleep inertia, thermoregulation, sleepiness, vasoconstriction, wakefulness, sleep onset, NAP, subjective sleepiness
MeSH terms
Body Temperature Regulation, Humans, Disorders of Excessive Somnolence, Sleep Stages, Vasoconstriction, Vasodilation, Wakefulness, Polysomnography

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review