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How Sleep Research in Extreme Environments Can Inform the Military: Advocating for a Transactional Model of Sleep Adaptation

  • MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH (VF CAPALDI, II, SECTION EDITOR)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

We review the literature on sleep in extreme environments. Accordingly, we present a model that identifies the need for mitigating interventions to preserve sleep quality for military deployments.

Recent Findings

Situational factors that affect sleep in extreme environments include cold temperatures, isolated and confined areas, fluctuating seasonality, photoperiodicity, and extreme latitudes and altitudes. Results vary across studies, but general effects include decreased total sleep time, poor sleep efficiency, and non-specific phase delays or phase advances in sleep onset and sleep architecture. Considering habitability measures (e.g., light or temperature control) and individual differences such as variable stress responses or sleep need can mitigate these effects to improve mood, cognition, and operational performance.

Summary

Although the situational demands during military missions inevitably reduce total sleep time and sleep efficiency, mitigating factors can attenuate sleep-related impairments, hence allowing for optimal mission success and personnel safety.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Anushka Sondhoo and Élodie Petit for screening abstracts.

Funding

This work was partially supported by the Office of Naval Research Global, Grant Number N62909-22–1-2008. Additionally, GS is supported by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec (Santé) Research Scholar Program and XM is supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre d’études avancées en médecine du sommeil, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, CIUSSS du Nord de l’Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    N. H. van den Berg, X. Michaud & G. Simonelli

  2. School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    N. H. van den Berg

  3. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Science, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    X. Michaud

  4. Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    N. Pattyn & G. Simonelli

  5. Human Physiology Department (MFYS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    N. Pattyn

  6. VIPER Research Unit, Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium

    N. Pattyn

  7. Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    G. Simonelli

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  1. N. H. van den Berg
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  2. X. Michaud
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Correspondence to G. Simonelli.

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van den Berg, N.H., Michaud, X., Pattyn, N. et al. How Sleep Research in Extreme Environments Can Inform the Military: Advocating for a Transactional Model of Sleep Adaptation. Curr Psychiatry Rep 25, 73–91 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-022-01407-3

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