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Effects of head cooling on human sleep stages and body temperature

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Abstract.

The purpose of this study was to confirm the effect of head cooling on human sleep stages and body temperature. Nine healthy male volunteers with a mean age of 25 ± 3.77 years served as subjects. The experiments were carried out under three different sets of conditions: 26 °C, relative humidity (RH) 50% (26/50); 32 °C, RH 80% (32/80); and 32 °C RH 80% with the use of a cooling pillow (32/80 HC). The subjects slept from 2300 hours to 0700 hours with a cotton blanket, wearing short-sleeved pyjamas and shorts on a bed, which was covered with a sheet. Electroencephalograms, electro-ouclogram, and mental electromyelograms were recorded through the night. Rectal temperature (T re) and skin temperature (T sk) were measured continuously. Whole-body sweat and the tympanic temperature (T ty) were measured before and after sleep. Wakefulness significantly increased at 32/80 than at 26/50; however, no significant difference was observed between 32/80 HC and 26/50. T re and mean T sk were higher both at 32/80 and 32/80 HC than at 26/50. The whole-body sweat loss was significantly greater and T ty in the morning was higher at 32/80 than 32/80 HC and 26/50. These results suggest that head cooling during sleep may help to decrease the whole-body sweat rate during sleep under humid heat conditions.

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Acknowledgements.

This study was supported by Special Coodination Funds of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Japanese Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaragi, 305-8566, Japan

    Kazue Okamoto-Mizuno & Kazuyo Tsuzuki

  2. National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 1-7-3 Konodai, Ichikawa, Chiba, 272-0827, Japan

    Koh Mizuno

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  1. Kazue Okamoto-Mizuno
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  2. Kazuyo Tsuzuki
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  3. Koh Mizuno
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Correspondence to Kazue Okamoto-Mizuno.

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Okamoto-Mizuno, K., Tsuzuki, K. & Mizuno, K. Effects of head cooling on human sleep stages and body temperature. Int J Biometeorol 48, 98–102 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-003-0181-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-003-0181-3

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