6533b828fe1ef96bd1288c3c

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Differential electrodermal and phasic heart rate responses to personally relevant information: Comparing sleep and wakefulness

subject

description

This study examined autonomic physiological responses to personally relevant information presented during sleep and wakefulness. Heart rate and electrodermal reactions to subjects’ own first name and other first names were measured during sleep stage 2, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and wakefulness. Across all conditions, larger skin conductance responses were elicited by subjects’ own first name. During REM sleep, personally relevant information led to larger heart rate acceleration, whereas an enhanced deceleration was examined during wakefulness. These findings suggest that auditory information is processed on a semantic level even during sleep. However, personally relevant information elicits a co-activation of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system during the wake state whereas only the former system is activated during REM sleep. The response pattern in the wake state reflects a mechanism focusing attention to a specific stimulus source — termed the orienting response. In contrast, the physiological responses during sleep seem to be part of a different mechanism aiming to wake the subject after crucial information has been detected in the environment.