Bed-Sharing in Couples Is Associated With Increased and Stabilized REM Sleep and Sleep-Stage Synchronization
Background/ObjectivesSharing the bed with a partner is common among adults and impacts sleep quality with potential implications for mental health. However, hitherto findings are contradictory and particularly polysomnographic data on co-sleeping couples are extremely rare. The present study aimed t...
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doaj-3f187e63366e462a9dd0fe9211d5f2b92020-11-25T03:12:10ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402020-06-011110.3389/fpsyt.2020.00583524836Bed-Sharing in Couples Is Associated With Increased and Stabilized REM Sleep and Sleep-Stage SynchronizationHenning Johannes Drews0Sebastian Wallot1Philip Brysch2Hannah Berger-Johannsen3Sara Lena Weinhold4Panagiotis Mitkidis5Panagiotis Mitkidis6Paul Christian Baier7Julia Lechinger8Andreas Roepstorff9Robert Göder10Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, GermanyDepartment of Psychology, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Psychology, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Management, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkCenter for Advanced Hindsight, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, GermanyInteracting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, GermanyBackground/ObjectivesSharing the bed with a partner is common among adults and impacts sleep quality with potential implications for mental health. However, hitherto findings are contradictory and particularly polysomnographic data on co-sleeping couples are extremely rare. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of a bed partner's presence on individual and dyadic sleep neurophysiology.MethodsYoung healthy heterosexual couples underwent sleep-lab-based polysomnography of two sleeping arrangements: individual sleep and co-sleep. Individual and dyadic sleep parameters (i.e., synchronization of sleep stages) were collected. The latter were assessed using cross-recurrence quantification analysis. Additionally, subjective sleep quality, relationship characteristics, and chronotype were monitored. Data were analyzed comparing co-sleep vs. individual sleep. Interaction effects of the sleeping arrangement with gender, chronotype, or relationship characteristics were moreover tested.ResultsAs compared to sleeping individually, co-sleeping was associated with about 10% more REM sleep, less fragmented REM sleep (p = 0.008), longer undisturbed REM fragments (p = 0.0006), and more limb movements (p = 0.007). None of the other sleep stages was significantly altered. Social support interacted with sleeping arrangement in a way that individuals with suboptimal social support showed the biggest impact of the sleeping arrangement on REM sleep. Sleep architectures were more synchronized between partners during co-sleep (p = 0.005) even if wake phases were excluded (p = 0.022). Moreover, sleep architectures are significantly coupled across a lag of ± 5min. Depth of relationship represented an additional significant main effect regarding synchronization, reflecting a positive association between the two. Neither REM sleep nor synchronization was influenced by gender, chronotype, or other relationship characteristics.ConclusionDepending on the sleeping arrangement, couple's sleep architecture and synchronization show alterations that are modified by relationship characteristics. We discuss that these alterations could be part of a self-enhancing feedback loop of REM sleep and sociality and a mechanism through which sociality prevents mental illness.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00583/fullco-sleepREM sleepsynchronizationbed-sharingphysiological couplingsociality |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Henning Johannes Drews Sebastian Wallot Philip Brysch Hannah Berger-Johannsen Sara Lena Weinhold Panagiotis Mitkidis Panagiotis Mitkidis Paul Christian Baier Julia Lechinger Andreas Roepstorff Robert Göder |
spellingShingle |
Henning Johannes Drews Sebastian Wallot Philip Brysch Hannah Berger-Johannsen Sara Lena Weinhold Panagiotis Mitkidis Panagiotis Mitkidis Paul Christian Baier Julia Lechinger Andreas Roepstorff Robert Göder Bed-Sharing in Couples Is Associated With Increased and Stabilized REM Sleep and Sleep-Stage Synchronization Frontiers in Psychiatry co-sleep REM sleep synchronization bed-sharing physiological coupling sociality |
author_facet |
Henning Johannes Drews Sebastian Wallot Philip Brysch Hannah Berger-Johannsen Sara Lena Weinhold Panagiotis Mitkidis Panagiotis Mitkidis Paul Christian Baier Julia Lechinger Andreas Roepstorff Robert Göder |
author_sort |
Henning Johannes Drews |
title |
Bed-Sharing in Couples Is Associated With Increased and Stabilized REM Sleep and Sleep-Stage Synchronization |
title_short |
Bed-Sharing in Couples Is Associated With Increased and Stabilized REM Sleep and Sleep-Stage Synchronization |
title_full |
Bed-Sharing in Couples Is Associated With Increased and Stabilized REM Sleep and Sleep-Stage Synchronization |
title_fullStr |
Bed-Sharing in Couples Is Associated With Increased and Stabilized REM Sleep and Sleep-Stage Synchronization |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bed-Sharing in Couples Is Associated With Increased and Stabilized REM Sleep and Sleep-Stage Synchronization |
title_sort |
bed-sharing in couples is associated with increased and stabilized rem sleep and sleep-stage synchronization |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychiatry |
issn |
1664-0640 |
publishDate |
2020-06-01 |
description |
Background/ObjectivesSharing the bed with a partner is common among adults and impacts sleep quality with potential implications for mental health. However, hitherto findings are contradictory and particularly polysomnographic data on co-sleeping couples are extremely rare. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of a bed partner's presence on individual and dyadic sleep neurophysiology.MethodsYoung healthy heterosexual couples underwent sleep-lab-based polysomnography of two sleeping arrangements: individual sleep and co-sleep. Individual and dyadic sleep parameters (i.e., synchronization of sleep stages) were collected. The latter were assessed using cross-recurrence quantification analysis. Additionally, subjective sleep quality, relationship characteristics, and chronotype were monitored. Data were analyzed comparing co-sleep vs. individual sleep. Interaction effects of the sleeping arrangement with gender, chronotype, or relationship characteristics were moreover tested.ResultsAs compared to sleeping individually, co-sleeping was associated with about 10% more REM sleep, less fragmented REM sleep (p = 0.008), longer undisturbed REM fragments (p = 0.0006), and more limb movements (p = 0.007). None of the other sleep stages was significantly altered. Social support interacted with sleeping arrangement in a way that individuals with suboptimal social support showed the biggest impact of the sleeping arrangement on REM sleep. Sleep architectures were more synchronized between partners during co-sleep (p = 0.005) even if wake phases were excluded (p = 0.022). Moreover, sleep architectures are significantly coupled across a lag of ± 5min. Depth of relationship represented an additional significant main effect regarding synchronization, reflecting a positive association between the two. Neither REM sleep nor synchronization was influenced by gender, chronotype, or other relationship characteristics.ConclusionDepending on the sleeping arrangement, couple's sleep architecture and synchronization show alterations that are modified by relationship characteristics. We discuss that these alterations could be part of a self-enhancing feedback loop of REM sleep and sociality and a mechanism through which sociality prevents mental illness. |
topic |
co-sleep REM sleep synchronization bed-sharing physiological coupling sociality |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00583/full |
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