Behavioral Control of Respiration in Sleep

Three experiments are presented involving behavioral control of sleeping respiration during all-night sleep recording. Probability and latency of the breathing response to an auditory signal revealed that control over sleeping respiration was obtained in all sleep stages and was maintained over several nights. This control was especially marked when failure to respond was punished (contingency procedure) by increasing the intensity of the signal (Experiments 2 and 3). Few awakenings occurred to the signal but signs of brief arousal (bursts of alpha activity, increases in EMG activity, EEG “speeding”) often accompanied the behavioral response. Overall sleep patterns were only minimally disrupted by the procedure. Demonstrating behavioral control over sleeping respiration may be a promising step toward the development of behavioral therapies for certain sleep apnea disorders and hypoventilation syndromes.