The relationship of fear-potentiated startle and polysomnography-measured sleep in trauma-exposed men and women with and without PTSD: testing REM sleep effects and exploring the roles of an integrative measure of sleep, PTSD symptoms, and biological sex

Sleep

article

Richards, Anne¹  Inslicht, Sabra S¹  Yack, Leslie M²  Metzler, Thomas J²  Russell Huie, J¹  Straus, Laura D¹  Dukes, Cassandra²  Hubachek, Samantha Q²  Felmingham, Kim L³  Mathalon, Daniel H¹  Woodward, Steven H⁴  Neylan, Thomas C¹ 

[1] Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California;San Francisco VA Medical Center;University of Melbourne;National Center for PTSD and VA Palo Alto Health Care System

关键词: fear conditioning;    sleep;    REM sleep;    PTSD;    polysomnography;    fear-potentiated startle;   

DOI  :  10.1093/sleep/zsab271

学科分类：生理学

来源: American Academy of Sleep Medicine

【 摘 要 】

Study Objectives Published research indicates that sleep is involved in emotional information processing. Using a fear-potentiated startle (FPS) and nap sleep protocol, we examined the relationship of emotional learning with REM sleep (REMS) in trauma-exposed participants. We also explored the roles of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, biological sex, and an integrative measure of polysomnography-measured (PSG) sleep in the learning-sleep relationship.Methods After an adaptation nap, participants (N = 46) completed two more visits (counterbalanced): a stress-condition visit, which included FPS conditioning procedures prior to a nap and assessment of learning retention and fear extinction training after the nap, and a control visit, which included a nap opportunity without stressful procedures. FPS conditioning included a “fear” visual stimulus paired with an air blast to the neck and a “safety” visual stimulus never paired with an air blast. Retention and extinction involved presentation of the visual stimuli without the air blast. Primary analyses examined the relationship between FPS responses pre- and post-sleep with stress-condition REMS duration, controlling for control-nap REMS duration.Results Higher safety learning predicted increased REMS and increased REMS predicted more rapid extinction learning. Similar relationships were observed with an integrative PSG sleep measure. They also showed unexpected effects of PTSD symptoms on learning and showed biological sex effects on learning-sleep relationships.Conclusions Findings support evidence of a relationship between adaptive emotional learning and REMS. They underscore the importance of examining sex effects in sleep-learning relationships. They introduce an integrative PSG sleep measure with potential relevance to studies of sleep and subjective and biological outcomes.

【 授权许可】

All Rights reserved