Physiological sleep-dependent changes in arterial blood pressure: central autonomic commands and baroreflex control

1. Sleep is a heterogeneous behaviour. As a first approximation, it is subdivided objectively into two states: non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) and rapid eye movement sleep (REMS). 2. The mean value and variability of arterial blood pressure (ABP) decrease physiologically from wakefulness to NREMS. In REMS, there may be a further decrease or increase in mean ABP as well as phasic hypertensive events, which enhance the variability of ABP. 3. The reduced mean ABP during NREMS results from a decrease in either heart rate or sympathetic vasoconstrictor tone. During REMS, sympathetic activity to the different cardiovascular effectors undergoes a substantial repatterning. Thus, the mean ABP in REMS reflects a balance between changes in cardiac output and constriction or dilatation of different vascular beds. 4. In both sleep states, the phasic changes in ABP are driven by bursts of vasoconstriction, which may be accompanied by surges of heart rate. 5. The available evidence supports the hypothesis that the sleep-dependent changes in ABP, either tonic or phasic, result from the integration between cardiovascular reflexes and central autonomic commands that are specific to each sleep state.