Effects of thermal environment on sleep and circadian rhythm

What the study found

Heat and cold exposures can increase wakefulness and reduce REM or slow-wave sleep, with thermoregulation tightly coupled to sleep.

Limitations

Many underlying studies use controlled conditions not identical to real bedrooms.

Neurodesign interpretation

A bedroom temperature can feel acceptable at lights-out and become biologically disruptive later. The design variable is the overnight thermal trajectory.

Possible design implications

Design for nocturnal thermal dynamics, not just pre-sleep thermostat preference.

Why it stays in the corpus

Retain for the physiological mechanism behind thermal sleep design.

Study design

Review

Population

Humans across sleep studies

Setting

Sleep laboratory and bedrooms

Field

Sleep science

Mechanism

Thermoregulation, sleep architecture, circadian physiology

Spatial variable

Ambient temperature, bedding microclimate

Keywords

sleep, thermoregulation, circadian, temperature