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Chemosensorisch induzierte Arousals im Schlaf – eine erweiterte Studie

Chemosensory arousals during sleep – an extended study

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Summary

Question of the study

The interaction of sensory physiology and sleep has been studied for various sensory systems. Nevertheless, the question whether chemosensory stimuli may lead to arousals during sleep remains under discussion.

Patients and methods

Five young healthy volunteers were included; they were investigated during a total of 37 nights. Intranasal chemosensory stimulation was based on air-dilution olfactometry. For selective olfactory stimulation, H2S, and for trigeminal stimulation CO2was administered in four concentrations each while odorless stimuli were used for control. Arousals were assessed during 30 s intervals after every stimulus using overnight polysomnography.

Results

For olfactory testing an average number of 756 olfactory stimuli and 186 controls were used for analysis per subject. Even the highest stimulus concentration did not produce an increase in arousal frequency. For trigeminal testing an average number of 927 stimuli and 223 controls were used for analysis per subject. The trigeminal stimuli produced a significant, linear increase in arousal frequency in relation to stimulus concentration.

Conclusions

With the present results we were able to demonstrate that, in contrast to trigeminal stimulation, the presentation of a strong but selective olfactory stimulus does not lead to arousals in non-REM or in REM sleep.

Zusammenfassung

Fragestellung

Der Einfluss von Sinnesreizen auf den Schlaf wurde für die meisten Sinneskanäle umfassend untersucht. Für die chemosensorischen Sinne liegen jedoch kaum Untersuchungen vor. Ob olfaktorische oder trigeminale Reize in der Lage sind, Arousals auszulösen, kann aufgrund der bisherigen Datenlage kaum beantwortet werden.

Patienten und Methoden

5 junge Probandinnen wurden in 37 Nächten untersucht. Die intranasale chemosensorische Stimulation erfolgte mit einem Fluss-Olfaktometer, wobei H2S zur olfaktorischen und CO2zur trigeminalen Stimulation in jeweils 4 Konzentrationen verwendet wurde. Daneben wurde Raumluft als Kontrollreiz verwendet. Arousals wurden mit einer parallelen Polysomnographie in einem Zeitfenster von 30 s nach Stimulation erfasst.

Ergebnisse

Bezüglich der olfaktorischen Stimulation konnte eine mittlere Anzahl von 756 olfaktorischen Reizen und 186 Kontrollreizen pro Proband ausgewertet werden. Auch die höchste Konzentration von H2S führte im Vergleich zu Raumluft nicht zu einer Zunahme der Arousalhäufigkeit. Für die Auswertung der trigeminalen Reizung standen im Mittel 927 trigeminale Stimulationen bzw. 223 Kontrollreize zur Verfügung. Hierbei zeigte sich eine signifikante, lineare Zunahme der Arousalhäufigkeit mit zunehmender Reizintensität.

Schlussfolgerung

Während die Ergebnisse der trigeminalen Testung andere Publikationen zu nozizeptiven Reizen im Schlaf bestätigen, konnte erstmals gezeigt werden, dass eine rein olfaktorische Stimulation im Gegensatz zu anderen Sinnessystemen nicht zur Entstehung von Arousals führt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universität-HNO-Klinik Mannheim, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1–3, 68167, Mannheim, Germany

    B. A. Stuck, K. Grupp, S. Frey, K. Hörmann & J. T. Maurer

  2. Klinik für Riech- und Schmeckstörungen, Universitäts-HNO-Klinik Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    T. Hummel

Authors
  1. B. A. Stuck
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  2. K. Grupp
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  3. S. Frey
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  4. K. Hörmann
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  5. J. T. Maurer
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  6. T. Hummel
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Correspondence to B. A. Stuck.

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Stuck, B.A., Grupp, K., Frey, S. et al. Chemosensorisch induzierte Arousals im Schlaf – eine erweiterte Studie. Somnologie 12, 212–218 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11818-008-0349-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11818-008-0349-5

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