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Changes in Emotional Responses to Aversive Pictures Across Periods Rich in Slow-Wave Sleep Versus Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

From the Department of Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg (U.W., J.B.), Bamberg, Germany; and Department of Clinical Neuroendocrinology, Medical University of Lübeck (U.W., S.F., J.B.), Lübeck, Germany.

View larger version (28K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. SAM rating system (27) used to assess the two emotional dimensions valence (top row) and arousal (bottom row). Subjects had to place an X on or between any of the five pictures, resulting in a 9-step scale for each emotional dimension.

View larger version (9K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Study design. Subjects were tested on two nights (early- vs. late-night condition) with the order balanced across subjects. On the early-night condition, the first rating (judgment 1) took place at 10:15 to 11:00 PM, followed by a 3-hour interval filled with sleep or wakefulness and a second rating (judgment 2). On the late-night condition, subjects first slept between 11:00 PM and 2:00 AM (to "consume" SWS). Judgment 1 took place at 2:15 to 3:00 AM, followed by a 3-hour interval of sleep or wakefulness and subsequently by judgment 2. The experimental sleep group slept during the 3-hour interval, and judgment 2 took place 15 minutes after awakening. The control group remained awake during these intervals.

View larger version (13K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Difference in valence ratings for old (familiar) and new (unfamiliar) aversive pictures obtained at judgment 2 after 3-hour intervals of sleep (black) and wakefulness (gray) during the early (left) and late night (middle). Right, results of a supplementary condition, in which judgments were obtained before and after a period of sleep across a total night (11:00 PM–6:00 AM). Note enhanced negativity for old-new difference (ie, increased emotional reactivity) after late sleep compared with late wakefulness and with early sleep. The total 7-hour period of sleep likewise revealed enhanced negativity, which was also significant in comparison with the effects of early sleep and late wakefulness (not shown) and tended to be more pronounced than after late sleep. # p< .05, ## p< .01 for difference from zero; * p< .05, (*) p< .10 for comparisons between conditions.