REGULATION OF BODY TEMPERATURE DURING SLEEP

In a previous paper¹ it was shown that during an afternoon nap children exhibit a fall in rectal temperature which takes place usually in association with an initial rise and subsequent decline in the cutaneous temperature and the rate of evaporation of water from the body. At the time a way was being sought to eliminate error in measuring the basal rate of insensible perspiration over short periods. It was, however, pointed out that the oscillations in cutaneous temperature and in evaporation during sleep appear to result from a thermoregulatory process which operates in association with the lowering of the temperature of the body. The present paper will present new data and offer an amplified discussion of the experiments in so far as they bear on the regulation of body temperature.

METHODS  The same technic was used as previously. Data are presented from 96 experiments on 9 normal children