Biological and behavioral correlates of quiet sleep respiration rates in infants.
The sleep and respiration of 88 infants were recorded for 24-h periods on the first 2 postnatal days and again at 6 months. The recordings were made with the Motility Monitoring System, which does not require instrumentation of the infants. Quiet sleep respiration rates (QSRR) increased over the first 2 days (mean = 42.2, SD = 1.0 and mean = 44.5, SD = 1.1, respectively), then decreased by 6 months (mean = 25.3, SD = 0.5); females showed lower QSRR on the first 2 days, infants delivered vaginally showed lower QSRR at 6 months; by 6 months QSRR was significantly higher during the day than at night; and significant individual differences across age and from day to nighttime were found at each age. Delivery mode, maternal age and education, and mental scores at 6 and 12 months were negatively related to QSRR at 6 months. Taken together, these data suggest a developmental advantage of slower QSRR and evidence for the role of the higher central nervous centers in the regulation of QSRR.
Montgomery-Downs
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Biobehavioral Sciences Graduate Degree Program, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06269, USA.
Thoman
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D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D017286:Polysomnography; D012016:Reference Values; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*