Psychosomatic Medicine 35:322-329 (1973)
© 1973 American Psychosomatic Society

REM Sleep in Four-Month Infants Under Home and Laboratory Conditions

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Denver, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Medical School Denver, Colorado

Paula Bernstein, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, 80210

Observations of morning naps in four-month old infants were made under home and laboratory conditions. Infants sleeping for the first time under laboratory conditions showed a reduction in REM sleep and changes in sleep pattern which particularly affected the onset of sleep and the final REM period prior to awakening. The results, which were comparable to the "first-night effect" commonly seen in adults, suggest that stress effects due to laboratory conditions may presently be confounded with maturational changes in polygraphic studies of infant sleep development.

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