Sleep, sleepiness, and alcohol use

T Roehrs, T Roth, T Roehrs, T Roth

Abstract

The study of alcohol's effects on sleep dates back to the late 1930s. Since then, an extensive literature has described alcohol's effects on the sleep of healthy, nonalcoholic people. For example, studies found that in nonalcoholics who occasionally use alcohol, both high and low doses of alcohol initially improve sleep, although high alcohol doses can result in sleep disturbances during the second half of the nocturnal sleep period. Furthermore, people can rapidly develop tolerance to the sedative effects of alcohol. Researchers have investigated the interactive effects of alcohol with other determinants of daytime sleepiness. Such studies indicate that alcohol interacts with sleep deprivation and sleep restriction to exacerbate daytime sleepiness and alcohol-induced performance impairments. Alcohol's effects on other physiological functions during sleep have yet to be documented thoroughly and unequivocally.

Figures

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/6707127/bin/arcr-25-2-101f1.jpg
Samples of electrophysiological measurements of various sleep stages. The four panels represent the measurements obtained during (A) wakefulness; (B) stage 2 nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep (i.e., light sleep); (C) stages 3 to 4 NREM sleep (deep or slow-wave sleep); and (D) rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is associated with dreaming. For each panel, the graphs labeled LOC and ROC represent measurements of the left and right eye movements, respectively. The graph labeled “chin” represents a measurement of small body movements, such as of the chin muscles. The graphs labeled C3-A2 and O2–A1 represent two electroencephalogram (EEG) readings measuring brain activity in certain brain regions. Finally, the electrocardiogram (EKG) measures the heart rate. Each sleep stage is characterized by a specific pattern of those readings. For example, during REM sleep the eyes move rapidly compared with stage 2 NREM sleep. At the same time, the EEG readings during REM sleep exhibit a higher frequency (i.e., number of waves per second) and a lower amplitude (i.e., height of the peaks and valleys of the waves) compared with stage 2 NREM sleep.

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Source: PubMed

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