Abstract:
Previous research has linked rapid eye movement sleep to emotional processing, particularly stress. Lab studies indicate that rapid eye movement sleep deprivation and fragmentation heighten emotional reactivity and stress response. This relationship extends to natural settings, where poor-quality sleep among college students correlates with increased academic stress and lower academic performance. However, there is a lack of research into how specific sleep stages, like rapid eye movement, affect real-life stress development. This study investigated whether habitual rapid eye movement sleep in college students can predict the future development of real-life stress symptoms associated with final exams. Fifty-two participants (mean age = 19 years, 62% females) monitored their sleep for a week during the academic semester using a mobile electroencephalogram device, and then completed self-evaluations measuring test anxiety and other relevant factors. They completed the same evaluations again just prior to final exams. We found that rapid eye movement sleep was the most dominant factor predicting changes in participants\' test anxiety. However, contrasting with our predictions, habitual rapid eye movement sleep was associated with an increase rather than decrease in anxiety. We discuss these results in terms of the rapid eye movement recalibration hypothesis, which suggests rapid eye movement sleep modulates activity in stress-encoding areas in the brain, leading to both decreased sensitivity and increased selectivity of stress responses.
摘要:
先前的研究已经将快速眼动睡眠与情绪处理联系起来,特别是压力。实验室研究表明,快速眼动睡眠剥夺和碎片会增加情绪反应和应激反应。这种关系延伸到自然环境,大学生睡眠质量差与学业压力增加和学习成绩下降相关。然而,缺乏对具体睡眠阶段的研究,比如快速的眼球运动,影响现实生活中的压力发展。这项研究调查了大学生习惯性的快速眼动睡眠是否可以预测与期末考试相关的现实生活压力症状的未来发展。52名参与者(平均年龄=19岁,62%的女性)使用移动脑电图设备在学年期间监测她们一周的睡眠,然后完成测试焦虑和其他相关因素的自我评估。他们在期末考试之前再次完成了相同的评估。我们发现,快速眼动睡眠是预测参与者测试焦虑变化的最主要因素。然而,与我们的预测相反,习惯性的快速眼动睡眠与焦虑的增加而不是减少有关。我们根据快速眼动重新校准假设来讨论这些结果,这表明快速眼动睡眠会调节大脑中压力编码区域的活动,导致敏感性降低和应激反应的选择性增加。