Sleep architecture is related to birth season in 1-month-old infants

• Published in: Chronobiology international 2019-09, Vol.36 (9), p.1217-1226
• Main Authors: Kärki, Anja, Paavonen, E Juulia, Satomaa, Anna-Liisa, Saarenpää-Heikkilä, Outi, Huhtala, Heini, Himanen, Sari-Leena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0742-0528; 1525-6073
• DOI: 10.1080/07420528.2019.1629449

Individual variation in sleep quality, quantity, and architecture is pronounced in small infants. Reasons for this remain largely unclear, even though environmental and genetic factors have been suggested to play a role. In order to study the effect of birth seasons on infant sleep architecture, 85 healthy 1-month-old infants underwent an overnight polysomnography (PSG). The PSGs were conducted in 2011-2013. The cohort was divided into four subgroups according to the amount of seasonal light at the time of birth, with each group covering a period of approximately three months. The groups were labeled IL (increasing light), L (light), ID (increasing darkness), and D (dark), corresponding to spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. We found the amount of stage R sleep (precursor of REM sleep, formerly active sleep) to be the highest in infants born in summer, whereas infants born in winter presented the smallest amount of stage R sleep. Infants born in summer presented the smallest amount of stage T sleep (transitional sleep), while stage T sleep was most abundant in infants born in winter. In addition, infants born in summer showed the shortest total sleep time (TST) and the smallest number of awakenings during the study night. This was the first PSG study to find out that birth season modifies the sleep architecture of infants.