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pathol. 3, 16 (1974).
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13. R. J. Scheper, T. C. M. Th. Van Maarsseveen,
Recent research has lent credence to
the hypothesis that sleep and in particu-
lar slow-wave sleep (SWS) (1), is a re-
covery period for daily metabolism (2,
3). Evidence in support of this theory
includes the synchrony of growth hor-
mone release with SWS in humans (4),
the suggestion that optimum conditions
for anabolism prevail during sleep (5),
and studies showing SWS duration to be
proportional to preceding wakefulness
(6). Although many other studies (7)
have yielded supportive evidence for the
theory, the prediction that daytime exer-
cise would increase SWS has produced
equivocal results (8). Possible reasons
Slow-wave sleep
M JEZUEJVA
Awake Stage Stage Stage Stage REM
1 2 3 4 sleep
480
Eg 360
0:22
240
Control 1 2 3 4
Nights after extended marathon
Fig. 1. Total sleep time (mean
± standard
error of the mean) and mean number of min-
utes spent in each sleep stage on control
nights, after the 92-km marathon, and on
three subsequent nights.
A. C. H. M. Van Dintehr-Janssen, Cell. Im-
munol. 53, 19 (1980).
14. C. M. Elboim, C. L. Reinisch, S. F. Schloss-
man, J. Immunol. 118, 1042 (1977).
15. J. W. Prineas and R. G. Wright, Lab. Invest. 38,
409 (1978); D. H. Snyder, M. P. Valsamis, S. H.
Stone, C. S. Raine, J. Neuropathol. Exp.
Neurol. 34, 209 (1975).
16. C. S. Raine, L. C. Scheinberg, J. M. Waltz,
Lab. Invest., in press.
17. We thank S. Swartwout and E. Swanson for
expert technical assistance and A. Geoghan and
M. Palumbo for typing the manuscript. Support-
ed in part by National Multiple Sclerosis Society
grant RG 1001-D-4 and by Public Health Service
grants NS 08952, NS 07098, and NS 11920.
17 July 1981; revised 21 September 1981
for these conflicting findings include the
variable fitness of the subjects tested (9),
the time during the day at which the
exercise is performed (10), and the abso-
lute amount of exercise (11). The abso-
lute amount of exercise is relevant since
it is the increase in energy expenditure
during exercise over and above basal
metabolism that would be expected to
influence the amount of SWS. To evalu-
ate the theory that SWS is a recovery
process and to resolve the question of
the effect of exercise on sleep, an experi-
ment was carried out in which the sleep
patterns of six subjects were studied
after a 92-km marathon. We thought that
this extreme event would highlight the
effect of a large increase in energy ex-
penditure on sleep.
All subjects (age, 18 to 26 years; mean
age, 21.7 years) slept for two nonconsec-
utive nights (with two intervening nights)
in the sleep laboratory 2 weeks before
the marathon. The first of these was to
allow for the "first-night effect" (12) and
was not recorded. The second of these
was used as a prerace baseline level.
Sleep patterns were recorded on the
night of the marathon (night 1) and for
the subsequent three nights (nights 2 to
4); they were recorded again 2 weeks
after the marathon as a postrace control.
Of the six recorded nights, the only day
on which any specific exercise had been
performed was that of the extended mar-
athon (13). None of the subjects were
taking medication, and they did not drink
alcohol or coffee on the days of the
study. Sleep recordings were made in the
standard manner and were scored blind
by two trained scorers according to stan-
dard criteria (14). All six subjects had
previously completed several standard
marathons over the preceding year, and
three had in previous years completed
this extended marathon. Five of the six
subjects were tested for treadmill maxi-
mum aerobic power (V0, ma)
and degree
of fitness 3 weeks before the marathon.
Lactic acid turn point (15) was over 70
percent of VO, max
for all but one of these
subjects, indicating -a high state of fit-
ness. The range of Vo, mlx for these five
subjects was 3.56 to 4.07 liters
(55.8 ± 2.2 ml per kilogram of body
weight per minute, mean ± standard er-
ror of the mean). The marathon started
at 0600, and the subjects required be-
tween 8'/2 and 103/4 hours to complete the
92 km (average speed, 10.7 to 8.6 km/
hour). Body mass of the runners de-
creased (despite considerable fluid in-
take during the marathon) from 70.2 ±
2.6 to 68.1 ± 2.7 kg [intrasubject com-
parisons, t (5) = 4.20, P < .01], and rec-
tal temperature increased from
37.6° ± 0.15° to 39.10 ± 0.160C [t
(5) = 13.33, P < .0011.
Environmental wet- and dry-bulb tem-
perature ranges during the race were
10.2° to 19.2°C and 10.40 to 26.20C, re-
spectively, and wind velocity ranged
from 0.2 to 3.5 m/sec.
The analysis of the sleep records
showed no significant differences be-
tween the 2-week pre- and 2-week post-
marathon nights; therefore, the mean of-
these two recordings is used as the base-
line sleep values. The baseline values
were similar to those obtained in norma-
tive studies of males of similar age (16).
Total sleep time increased significant-
ly over control times on each of the four
nights after the marathon [F(4, 20)
= 21.3, P < .05] (Fig. 1). Wakeful-
ness was greatest on the night of the
marathon, perhaps because of muscle
and blister pains; this result could ex-
plain why the longest sleep period occurs
on the second night after the marathon.
Subjective sleep ratings for the seven
laboratory nights showed that four of the
six subjects reported having slept best on
the night 2.
50'
- 40
I
30
E 20
10
I
+
I I
OI Stage 4
U Stage 3
ii
Control Night 1 Night 2 Night 3 Night 4
Nights after extended marathon
Fig. 2. Slow-wave sleep as a percentage of the
total night's sleep on control nights, the night
after the 92-km marathon, and on three subse-
quent nights.
0036-8075/81/121 1-1253$01 .00/0 Copyright © 1981 AAAS
Slow-Wave Sleep: A Recovery Period After Exercise
Abstract. Sleep recordings were carried out on athletes on four successive nights
after completing a 92-kilometer road race. Significant increases in total sleep time
and slow-wave sleep were found after this metabolic stress. The results show a
definite exercise effect on sleep and support sleep-restoration hypotheses.
1 253
SCIENCE, VOL. 214, 11 DECEMBER 1981
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