Auditory stimulation of sleep slow waves enhances left ventricular function in humans

Abstract

Although the impact of sleep on cardiovascular health is widely accepted¹, precise mechanisms by which specific brain oscillations during sleep facilitate post-sleep cardiac function remain unclear. Slow waves, the prominent brain oscillations of non-rapid eye movement (NREM, here NREM Stage 2 + 3) sleep, are hypothesized to play a critical role in mediating the beneficial effects of sleep on cardiovascular functioning. Here, we used auditory stimulation to experimentally enhance slow waves and test whether that affects cardiovascular function during and after sleep.