Browsing by Subject "REM fragmentation"

Aims of the study. Evidence from previous studies suggests that slow breathing or listening to calming music before sleep would decrease subjects’ experience of fragmented and disturbed sleep. It has been proposed that experience of restless and non-restorative sleep could be explained by fragmented REM sleep. However, the possibility to decrease REM sleep fragmentation by increasing pre-sleep relaxation has not been investigated objectively before. The aim of this study was to investigate whether slow breathing or listening to music improve REM sleep quality and decrease REM sleep fragmentation. Methods. This study was a randomized controlled trial, where 20 participants were randomized to two intervention groups. The other group breathed five slow breaths in a minute for 30 minutes before sleep, while the other group listened to calming music for 30 minutes before sleep. Participants’ sleep was measured on two successive nights with polysomnography. The other night included the intervention, while the other night worked as a control night without treatment. The data was analyzed with a linear mixed model. Results and conclusions. Slow breathing decreased the percentage of macro-arousals (3–15 s) compared to control condition. Pre-sleep music listening did not influence REM sleep fragmentation or other REM sleep parameters. The results suggest that pre-sleep slow breathing could improve REM sleep quality by decreasing fragmentation of REM sleep. However, replications of this study with larger sample sizes and more diverse subject populations are needed to better understand the exact mechanisms underlying these associations.