Healthy, sub-clinical participants
Conditions
Interventions
Group 1: participants with stress-related sleep disturbances, healthy sleepers
Sponsors
LMU, Medical Faculty, Institute of Medical Psychology
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: Participants with stress-related sleep disturbances: (1) 2-3 nightmares / month and/or Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) score >= 6 (Soldatos, Dikeos, & Paparrigopoulos, 2003); (2) 1 bad dream / week and/or AIS score >= 6 Healthy sleeper control participants: (1) less than 2-3 nightmares / year and/or AIS score < 4 (Soldatos et al., 2003); (2) not more than 1 bad dream / month and/or AIS score < 4
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: General: (1) Prior history of neurological, psychiatric or chronic somatic disorder; (2) regular medication (except contraceptives); (3) drug or alcohol dependency, (4) presence of endocrine or cardiovascular disorder, (5) shift working or other irregular sleep schedule, (6) pregnancy Participants with stress-related sleep disturbances: (1) Presence of another sleep disorder (e.g. night terrors, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder) Healthy sleeper control participants: same as general exclusion criteria
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Cortical hyperarousal, measured by polysomnography and EEG headband, operationalised as increased sleep fragmentation, reduced slow-wave sleep, increased arousal count and reduced slow frequency activity combined with increased fast frequency activity during NREM sleep. Systemic inflammation, measured by the concentration of inflammatory markers in venous (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6)) and capillary (hsCRP) blood samples and saliva samples (IL-6). | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Smartwatch: o Daily activity level quantified by calculating counts per minute (CPM) from the linear acceleration channel. o Daily questionnaire results in the morning, evening and during stress. Pro-inflammatory and stress markers: o Tumour necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), differential blood count from venous blood sample. o Cortisol, IL-1ß, alpha-amylase from saliva samples. o Cortisol and endocannabinoids from hair samples. Sleep measurements: o Spectral activities during the specified nightmares. o Electrocardiography (ECG) activity (HR, RMSSD, high-frequency and low-frequency spectrum) throughout the night, different sleep periods and registered nightmares. o PPG measurements (HR, RMSSD) throughout the night, different sleep periods and recorded nightmares. | — |
Countries
Germany
Contacts
Public ContactBorbála Blaskovich
LMU, Medical Faculty, Institute of Medical Psychology
Outcome results
None listed