• Bantu Samridhi Chhangani, Timothy A Roehrs, Erica J Harris, Maren Hyde, Christopher Drake, David W Hudgel, and Thomas Roth.
• Sleep Disorders & Research Center, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI 48202, USA.
• Sleep. 2009 Aug 1;32(8):1011-7.

Study ObjectivePast studies have shown that acute experimental reduction of time in bed in otherwise healthy, non-sleepy people leads to hyperalgesia. We hypothesized that otherwise healthy, sleepy people may also exhibit hyperalgesia relative to their non-sleepy counterparts.DesignBetween-groups sleep laboratory study.SettingHospital-based sleep disorders center.ParticipantsTwenty-seven, healthy, normal participants (age 18-35 years) were recruited and categorized into sleepy and non-sleepy groups based on their average sleep latencies on a screening multiple sleep latency test (MSLT).InterventionsBoth groups were then allowed 8 hours time in bed, following which they underwent pain sensitivity testing (10:30 and 14:30) and sleepiness assessments by the MSLT (10:00, 12:00, 14:00, and 16:00). Pain sensitivity assessments were made by measuring finger withdrawal latencies to a radiant heat source delivering 5 different heat intensities.Measurements And ResultsThis study showed that after only one night of 8 hours time in bed, the sleepy participants continued to be sleepy and exhibited a more rapid finger withdrawal response (i.e., increased pain sensitivity) to radiant heat than non-sleepy participants.ConclusionThis suggests that sleepy individuals experience hyperalgesia in response to a painful stimulus when compared with non-sleepy individuals.

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