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The effects of rapid eye movement sleep deprivation during late pregnancy on newborns' sleep
Author(s) -
Aswathy B.S.,
Kumar Velayudhan M.,
Gulia Kamalesh K.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of sleep research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2869
pISSN - 0962-1105
DOI - 10.1111/jsr.12564
Subject(s) - offspring , sleep deprivation , sleep (system call) , non rapid eye movement sleep , pregnancy , psychology , rapid eye movement sleep , medicine , eye movement , circadian rhythm , physiology , endocrinology , audiology , neuroscience , biology , genetics , computer science , operating system
Summary Sleep deprivation during pregnancy is an emerging concern, as it can adversely affect the development of the offspring brain. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of deprivation of rapid eye movement ( REM ) sleep during the third term of pregnancy on the sleep–wake profiles of neonates in the Wistar rat model. Sleep–wake patterns were assessed through electrophysiological measures and behavioural observations during postnatal days 1–21 on pups born to REM sleep‐deprived dams and control rats. Pups of REM sleep‐deprived dams had active sleep that was not only markedly higher in percentage during all the days studied, but also had reduced latency during later postnatal days 15–21. Quiet sleep and wake periods were lower. These factors, along with less frequent but longer sleep–wake cycles, indicated maturational delay in the sleep–wake neural networks. The disruption of time‐bound growth of sleep–wake neural networks was substantiated further by the decreased slope of survival plots in the sleep bouts. Examination of altered sleep–wake patterns during early development may provide crucial information concerning deranged neural development in the offspring. This is the first report, to our knowledge, to show that maternal sleep deprivation during pregnancy can delay and impair the development of sleep–wake profile in the offspring.