Event Title
Reciprocal relation between psychophysiological patterns of stress responsivity and sleep
Faculty Sponsor
ElizabethSshirtcliff
Submission Type
Poster
Description
Popular misinterpretations on the understanding of the human brain have led to the bad habit of assuming that disturbances in psychology are extrinsic to the functioning of the body. Now we know that our seemingly intangible psyche has transcendental effects in our health, and vice versa. This reciprocal relationship principle between our mind and body is primordial in the stress responsitivity system. Stress(Graham, J. 2006) and sleep (Deborah A. 2001) problems are connected to a myriad of health issues, both cognitive and physiological, and finding the appropriate connection between the two can be elemental in preventing this problems. In my research I hypothesize that a disturbance in cortisol's daily rhythm can be observed in connection with poor sleep quality. All participants provided saliva samples and had to take the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), saliva was enzyme-immuno-assayed for cortisol. I analyzed the data for two independent studies. (1)12 samples were taken for basal and lab days in 65 individuals. People who reported less disturbance (β=-0.10, p=0.041) and dysfunction (β=-0.14, p=0.026) showed lower cortisol levels after peak. (2)6-8 samples per day across 5 days in 120 maltreated or control adolescents. I used a 3-level hierarchical linear model to examine rhythms within each day and within each individual. Cortisol levels were not influenced by sleep, yet the circadian rhythm was flattened on days when adolescents had poor sleep latency (β=.013, p=.025 for time-since-waking, β=-.0008, p=.039 for quadratic time-since-waking). Analysis will be extended across 2 additional studies with identical collection strategies.
Reciprocal relation between psychophysiological patterns of stress responsivity and sleep
Popular misinterpretations on the understanding of the human brain have led to the bad habit of assuming that disturbances in psychology are extrinsic to the functioning of the body. Now we know that our seemingly intangible psyche has transcendental effects in our health, and vice versa. This reciprocal relationship principle between our mind and body is primordial in the stress responsitivity system. Stress(Graham, J. 2006) and sleep (Deborah A. 2001) problems are connected to a myriad of health issues, both cognitive and physiological, and finding the appropriate connection between the two can be elemental in preventing this problems. In my research I hypothesize that a disturbance in cortisol's daily rhythm can be observed in connection with poor sleep quality. All participants provided saliva samples and had to take the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), saliva was enzyme-immuno-assayed for cortisol. I analyzed the data for two independent studies. (1)12 samples were taken for basal and lab days in 65 individuals. People who reported less disturbance (β=-0.10, p=0.041) and dysfunction (β=-0.14, p=0.026) showed lower cortisol levels after peak. (2)6-8 samples per day across 5 days in 120 maltreated or control adolescents. I used a 3-level hierarchical linear model to examine rhythms within each day and within each individual. Cortisol levels were not influenced by sleep, yet the circadian rhythm was flattened on days when adolescents had poor sleep latency (β=.013, p=.025 for time-since-waking, β=-.0008, p=.039 for quadratic time-since-waking). Analysis will be extended across 2 additional studies with identical collection strategies.