Use of the oculocardiac reflex to assess vagal reactivity during quiet sleep in neonates

Summary Arousal from sleep can be a protective response to life‐threatening stimuli. Hence, faults within state‐switching processes may lead to fatal events. To investigate the role of the nervous system during cardiac failure triggered by phasic, vagally mediated stimulation, we analysed autonomic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of sleep research 2006-06, Vol.15 (2), p.167-173
Main Authors: DUCROCQ, JACQUES, CARDOT, VIRGINIE, TOURNEUX, PIERRE, CHARDON, KAREN, TELLIEZ, FRÉDÉRIC, LIBERT, JEAN‐PIERRE, DE BROCA, ALAIN, BACH, VÉRONIQUE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apnea - epidemiology
arousal
autonomic nervous system
Autonomic Nervous System - physiology
bradycardia
Bradycardia - epidemiology
Female
Heart Rate - physiology
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Male
neonate
Oxygen - metabolism
Oxygen Consumption
Polysomnography
Reflex, Oculocardiac - physiology
Respiration
sleep
Sleep - physiology
Vagus Nerve - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary Arousal from sleep can be a protective response to life‐threatening stimuli. Hence, faults within state‐switching processes may lead to fatal events. To investigate the role of the nervous system during cardiac failure triggered by phasic, vagally mediated stimulation, we analysed autonomic and behavioural reactions in 50 premature neonates during quiet sleep (QS) – a sleep state characterized by a preponderance of tonic, parasympathetic activity. Bradycardia was induced with a standardized ocular compression test. Neither awakening nor behavioural escape reactions were observed during or after an episode of bradycardia. Eighty‐six per cent of the provoked bradycardic episodes induced central apnoea. During QS, the neonates’ respiratory response and arousability were found to be time‐dependent: when the test was performed early in the QS episode, apnoea was more frequent (94%), and no sleep state change occurred. When ocular compression was performed in the later part of the QS episode, a transition towards active sleep was observed, together with significantly fewer episodes of apnoea (64%). These results indicate that a progressive decrease in the respiratory system's responsiveness to phasic, parasympathetic stimulation occurs during QS, whereas arousability increases. Our study suggests that newborns could be more vulnerable to potentially fatal events during the initial portion of a QS episode.
ISSN:0962-1105
1365-2869
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2869.2006.00511.x