Cognitive Activity, Sleep Disturbance, and Stage Specific Differences Between Recorded and Reported Sleep

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Abstract
Sleepers were studied in their homes to obtain measures of relationships between (a) discrepancies between reported and recorded sleep, (b) degree of sleep difficulty, and (e) reported cognitive activity. Twelve good sleepers and 12 insomniacs were questioned immediately after lights out, at the occurrence of the first sleep spindle or K‐complex, 10 min after the second sleep onset, 5 min after the onset of the first REM period, 10 min after the onset of the first stage 2, during subsequent periods of REM and stage 2 sleep, and at spontaneous arousals. Subjects responded to questions regarding mental content (thought vs picture, awake vs asleep, audience vs actor), estimated total time, and estimated total sleep time since the previous arousal. Insomniacs overestimated sleep difficulty only at 10 min after the second spindle and at spontaneous arousals. Reports of “picture” and “actor” were associated with sleeping difficulty. Persons who reported being “awake,”“actor,” and “picture” showed significantly greater discrepancies between reported and recorded sleep than persons who reported “sleep,”“audience,” or “thought”. The results are discussed in terms of implications for increased understanding of the phenomenon of insomnia.

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