American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology
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Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. · Aug 2013
Estradiol modulates recovery of REM sleep in a time-of-day-dependent manner.
Ovarian hormones are thought to modulate sleep and fluctuations in the hormonal milieu are coincident with sleep complaints in women. In female rats, estradiol increases waking and suppresses sleep. In this study, we asked whether this effect is mediated via circadian or homeostatic regulatory mechanisms. ⋯ By contrast, NREM recovery was largely unaffected by EB. In summary, EB enhanced waking and suppressed sleep, particularly REM sleep, in the dark under baseline and recovery conditions. These strong temporally dependent effects suggest that EB consolidates circadian sleep-wake rhythms in female rats.