Cited by 48Sleep and Work-Related FatigueMind wandering and attentionSleep and Wakefulness Research

Correlated Fluctuations of Daytime Skin Temperature and Vigilance

Romeijn, Nico, Van Someren, Eus J. W.·2011·Journal of Biological Rhythms

Abstract

Skin temperature shows spontaneous ultradian fluctuations during everyday-life wakefulness. Previous work showed that mild manipulations of skin temperature affect human sleep and vigilance, presumably by influencing neuronal systems involved in both thermal sensing and arousal regulation. We therefore examined whether fluctuations in skin temperature are associated with those in vigilance level under conditions similar to everyday-life situations requiring sustained attention. Eight healthy participants (30.1 ± 8.1 years, M ± SD) participated in a 2-day protocol, during which vigilance and skin temperature were assessed 4 times per day in a silent, dimly lit, temperature-controlled room. Vigilance was assessed by measuring reaction speed and lapses on a novel sustained vigilance task specifically designed to increase lapse rate and range of reaction times. Skin temperature was sampled at 30-second intervals from 3 locations: distal, intermediate, and proximal temperatures were obtained from the middle finger (T finger ), the wrist (T wrist ), and the infraclavicular area (T chest ), respectively. Furthermore, 3 distal to proximal gradients were calculated. Mixed-effect regression analyses were used to evaluate the association of the fluctuations in temperatures and gradients and those in response speed and lapse probability. Especially the spontaneous fluctuations in proximal temperature were negatively associated with fluctuations in response speed and positively with lapse rate. If individual T chest temperature ranges were classified into 10 deciles, they accounted for 23% of the variance in response speed and 11% of the variance in lapse rate. The findings indicate coupling between the spontaneous fluctuations in skin temperature and vigilance during the day and are compatible with the hypothesis of overlap in brain networks involved in the regulation of temperature and vigilance. From an applied point of view, especially proximal skin temperature assessment may be of use in vigilance monitoring.

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Crossref · 10.1177/0748730410391894

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  • Healthy people perform better during the troughs of their normal daytime skin temperature fluctuations.

    “With respect to the ability to maintain alert wakefulness, healthy people perform better during the troughs of their normal daytime skin temperature fluctuations [74].”

    From Sleep, vigilance, and thermosensitivity (2012) · cites this paper as [74]

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Authors
Romeijn, N., & Van Someren, E. J. W.
Affiliations
  • Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NL)
  • Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Sleep Center Leiden, Departments of Neurology and Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands, Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Corresponding author
Romeijn, Nico
Venue
Journal of Biological Rhythms
Published
2011-01-20
Volume
26
Issue
1
Pages
68-77
ISSN
  • 0748-7304 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-4531
OpenAlex
W2161928982
Cited by
48
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 4
FWCI
7.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Biological Rhythms (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Digital Academic REpository of VU University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • KNAW Research Portal (The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
Keywords
skin temperature, sustained attention, ultradian rhythms, reaction speed, lapse rate, daytime wakefulness, vigilance monitoring, arousal regulation, temperature sensing
MeSH terms
Adult, Body Temperature, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Regression Analysis, Skin Temperature, Sleep, Temperature, Time Factors, Wakefulness, Odds Ratio

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