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. 2016 Oct 24:6:35812.
doi: 10.1038/srep35812.

Estimating individual optimal sleep duration and potential sleep debt

Shingo Kitamura  1 , Yasuko Katayose  1 , Kyoko Nakazaki  1 , Yuki Motomura  1 , Kentaro Oba  1 , Ruri Katsunuma  1 , Yuri Terasawa  1 , Minori Enomoto  1 , Yoshiya Moriguchi  1 , Akiko Hida  1 , Kazuo Mishima  1
Affiliations

Estimating individual optimal sleep duration and potential sleep debt

Shingo Kitamura et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

In this study, we hypothesized that dynamics of sleep time obtained over consecutive days of extended sleep in a laboratory reflect an individual's optimal sleep duration (OSD) and that the difference between OSD and habitual sleep duration (HSD) at home represents potential sleep debt (PSD). We found that OSD varies among individuals and PSD showed stronger correlation with subjective/objective sleepiness than actual sleep time, interacting with individual's vulnerability of sleep loss. Furthermore, only 1 h of PSD takes four days to recover to their optimal level. Recovery from PSD was also associated with the improvement in glycometabolism, thyrotropic activity and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. Additionally, the increase (rebound) in total sleep time from HSD at the first extended sleep would be a simple indicator of PSD. These findings confirmed self-evaluating the degree of sleep debt at home as a useful clinical marker. To establish appropriate sleep habits, it is necessary to evaluate OSD, vulnerability to sleep loss, and sleep homeostasis characteristics on an individual basis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Total sleep time (TST) and sleep structure during the sleep protocol.
(a) TST as determined by polysomnography (PSG) on each experimental night. BL: baseline night; E1–E9: extended sleep sessions on days 1–9; SD: sleep deprivation night; RS: recovery sleep night. Habitual sleep (HS) is the total sleep time calculated from at-home actigraphy. Data are expressed as means with error bars representing the standard error of the mean. **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05. Mixed model analysis of variance for repeated measures showed significant differences in TST within extended sleep sessions (F (8,109.107) = 10.590, p < 0.001; HS, BL, and RS not included in the analysis). Multiple comparisons showed TST was significantly longer at E1, E2, and E3 compared to E9. (b) Sleep structure determined by PSG on each experimental night. Blue filled bar: slow wave sleep; Grey filled bar: sleep stages 1 + 2 (st1 + 2); Yellow filled bar: REM sleep (stREM). **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05. During extended sleep sessions, the total amount of sleep showed significant differences in st1 + 2 and stREM, but not sleep stages 3 + 4 (st3 + 4) (st1 + 2, F(8,110.012) = 5.973, p < 0.001; stREM, F(8,110.164) = 8.003, p < 0.001; st3 + 4: F(8,109.970) = 1.342, p = 0.230). Multiple comparisons showed E1 and E3 had longer st1 + 2 and stREM than E9, and E2 showed longer stREM than E9.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Habitual sleep duration (HSD), optimal sleep duration (OSD), and potential sleep debt (PSD) for each individual.
(a) Mean and individual’s OSD and HSD. Individual data are presented in ascending order of PSD. Red filled circles: OSD, Blue filled circles: HSD. (b) Mean and individual’s PSD (HSD subtracted from OSD). Mean HSD was significantly shorter than mean OSD by approximately 1 h (t(14) = 4.547, p < 0.001).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Association between potential sleep debt and total sleep time (TST) rebound.
TST rebound is the difference between TST at E1 and habitual sleep duration. The greater the potential sleep debt, the significantly greater the TST rebound (r = 0.769, p = 0.001).
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