Presleep Autonomic Arousal as a Distinguishing Factor in Type of Sleep Pattern

Abstract

A subsample of 33 subjects classified by interview as unusual sleepers were asked to record their sleep in the morning and stress and heart rate at bedtime (index of physiological arousal). Increased physiological activity was expected in long sleepers because they had been identified as worriers, i.e., show activated physiological arousal. These data were recorded for a month, but no statistically significant differences for the long sleepers were noted.