Self-reported cognitive activity has been hypothesized to contribute directly to problematic sleep. We evaluated this formulation by examining nocturnal sleep parameters, daytime functioning and psychological adjustment cross-sectionally (N = 183) in four groups of older adults: good and poor sleepers with high and low cognitive arousal. Results indicate that when sleep quality was controlled f...

REM sleep behaviour disorder (RSBD) is a recently described parasomnia characterised by a history of excessive nocturnal motor activity and absence of muscle atonia during REM sleep. Only limited literature is available on this condition. The exact prevalence is unclear, but recent studies suggest it might not be an uncommon condition. The elderly are more often affected and there is a male pre...

22:1-15. 8. Thomas TC, Rollins SA, Rother RP, et al. Inhibition of complement activity by humanized anti-C5 antibody and single-chain Fv. Mol Immunol. 1996;33:13891401. 9. Rother RP, Rollins SA, Mojcik CF, Brodsky RA, Bell L. Discovery and development of the complement inhibitor eculizumab for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. Nat Biotechnol. 2007;25:1256-1264. 10. Hillmen P...

The vast majority of the world's fossil fuel trace gas emission sources can be detected and mapped using nighttime low light imaging data from the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). This includes human settlements, industrial and commercial facilities, and gas flares. Nocturnal lighting could be regarded as one of the defining featu...

In 1942, Walls described the concept of a 'nocturnal bottleneck' in placental mammals, where these species could survive only by avoiding daytime activity during times in which dinosaurs were the dominant taxon. Walls based this concept of a longer episode of nocturnality in early eutherian mammals by comparing the visual systems of reptiles, birds and all three extant taxa of the mammalian lin...

The mammalian circadian system synchronizes daily timing of activity and rest with the environmental light-dark cycle. Although the underlying molecular oscillatory mechanism is well studied, factors that influence phenotypic plasticity in daily activity patterns (temporal niche switching, chronotype) are presently unknown. Molecular evidence suggests that metabolism may influence the circadian...

Several rodent species that are diurnal in the field become nocturnal in the lab. It has been suggested that the use of running-wheels in the lab might contribute to this timing switch. This proposition is based on studies that indicate feed-back of vigorous wheel-running on the period and phase of circadian clocks that time daily activity rhythms. Tuco-tucos (Ctenomys aff. knighti) are subterr...

As a behavioural strategy, cathemerality is thought to confer considerable advantages by allowing animals to extend activity flexibly into either the diurnal or nocturnal phase in response to the prevailing ecological conditions. Factors such as temperature, access to food sources and minimising the risk of predation are all thought to be important in promoting cathemerality, although previous ...

We previously described a strong concordance between nocturnal oscillations in plasma renin activity and sleep cycles. To examine whether modifying renal renin content or release influences the response to central stimuli linked to sleep stage alternation, plasma renin activity was measured every 10 minutes from 11:00 PM to 8:00 AM in three groups of six subjects. The first group received one 4...