Abstract
The effects of sleep-onset REM periods (SOREMP) and NREM periods (stage 2) on sleepiness and fatigue were examined using 14 normal participants. Either a SOREMP or NREM episode was induced after sleep interruption using the Sleep Interruption Technique. Participants assessed their subjective sleepiness and fatigue before and after these sleep episodes using the Kwansei-gakuin Sleepiness Scale (KSS) and the Fatigue complaints test by The Industrial Fatigue Research Committee of the Japan Association of Industrial Health. The results showed that KSS scores before SOREMP episodes were higher than those in NREM episodes. More complaints such as “yawny”, “sleepy”, “want to lie down to sleep” were obtained both before and after SOREMP episodes than before and after NREM episodes. On the other hand, more complaints such as “twitching of the eyelid and/or fa-cial muscle” after NREM episodes were obtained than after SOREMP. We discuss the contribution of physiological factors such as EOG, EMG and the circadian rhythm to the relationship between SOREMP and subjective sleepiness and fatigue.
