First night effects in good sleepers and sleep-maintenance insomniacs when recorded at home

Area of Science:

• Sleep Science
• Neuroscience
• Chronobiology

Background:

• Sleep disturbances are common, impacting overall health and well-being.
• Understanding initial sleep patterns in different populations is crucial for targeted interventions.
• Sleep-maintenance insomnia and good sleepers represent distinct sleep profiles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the initial sleep characteristics of good sleepers and individuals with sleep-maintenance insomnia.
• To compare sleep efficiency, wakefulness after sleep onset, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep patterns between the two groups during the first night of home sleep recordings.
• To assess subjective sleep adequacy over consecutive nights in both groups.

Main Methods:

• Utilized home sleep recordings over four consecutive nights.
• Included 12 healthy good sleepers and 12 individuals diagnosed with sleep-maintenance insomnia.
• Monitored objective sleep parameters including sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, and REM sleep latency and distribution.

Main Results:

• Good sleepers exhibited decreased sleep efficiency and increased wake time after sleep onset on the first night.
• Insomniacs displayed a longer latency to the first REM period and reduced REM sleep during the initial third of the first recording night.
• No significant differences in self-reported sleep adequacy were found between the first and subsequent nights for either group.

Conclusions:

• Initial nights of home sleep recordings reveal distinct objective sleep alterations in good sleepers and those with sleep-maintenance insomnia.
• Despite objective differences on the first night, subjective sleep adequacy did not differ significantly across nights for either group.
• These findings highlight the importance of considering initial sleep adaptations and specific sleep stage disruptions in understanding insomnia.