Biomaterial Database

Development of circadian sleep-wake rhythms in preterm and full-term infants. 1991

I C McMillen, and J S Kok, and T M Adamson, and J M Deayton, and R Nowak

Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.

We have compared the roles of neurologic maturity and environmental time cues in the development of the entrained circadian sleep-wake rhythm in the preterm and term human infant. The preterm infants (n = 19) spent some time after birth in a hospital nursery with no environmental time cues, whereas the term infants (n = 22) were exposed from birth to a cyclical light and dark environment with one major caregiver. The circadian sleep-wake rhythm in the preterm infants entrained after a similar time of exposure to an environment with daily time cues but at an earlier postconceptional age when compared with the term group. We conclude, therefore, that it is the length of exposure to environmental time cues, rather than neurologic maturity, that determines the entrainment of the circadian rhythm of sleep and wakefulness in the human infant.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007231	Infant, Newborn	An infant during the first 28 days after birth.	Neonate,Newborns,Infants, Newborn,Neonates,Newborn,Newborn Infant,Newborn Infants
D007234	Infant, Premature	A human infant born before 37 weeks of GESTATION.	Neonatal Prematurity,Premature Infants,Preterm Infants,Infant, Preterm,Infants, Premature,Infants, Preterm,Premature Infant,Prematurity, Neonatal,Preterm Infant
D008027	Light	That portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared range.	Light, Visible,Photoradiation,Radiation, Visible,Visible Radiation,Photoradiations,Radiations, Visible,Visible Light,Visible Radiations
D008297	Male		Males
D002940	Circadian Rhythm	The regular recurrence, in cycles of about 24 hours, of biological processes or activities, such as sensitivity to drugs or environmental and physiological stimuli.	Diurnal Rhythm,Nyctohemeral Rhythm,Twenty-Four Hour Rhythm,Nycthemeral Rhythm,Circadian Rhythms,Diurnal Rhythms,Nycthemeral Rhythms,Nyctohemeral Rhythms,Rhythm, Circadian,Rhythm, Diurnal,Rhythm, Nycthemeral,Rhythm, Nyctohemeral,Rhythm, Twenty-Four Hour,Rhythms, Circadian,Rhythms, Diurnal,Rhythms, Nycthemeral,Rhythms, Nyctohemeral,Rhythms, Twenty-Four Hour,Twenty Four Hour Rhythm,Twenty-Four Hour Rhythms
D004777	Environment	The external elements and conditions which surround, influence, and affect the life and development of an organism or population.	Environmental Impact,Environmental Impacts,Impact, Environmental,Impacts, Environmental,Environments
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012890	Sleep	A readily reversible suspension of sensorimotor interaction with the environment, usually associated with recumbency and immobility.	Sleep Habits,Sleeping Habit,Sleeping Habits,Habit, Sleep,Habit, Sleeping,Habits, Sleep,Habits, Sleeping,Sleep Habit
D014851	Wakefulness	A state in which there is an enhanced potential for sensitivity and an efficient responsiveness to external stimuli.	Wakefulnesses