Deep sleep triggers the onset of puberty: study
According to researchers, deep sleep is intimately involved in the complex control of the onset of puberty and many changes that occur in boys and girls during the phase are triggered by changes in the brain.
Previous studies have shown that the parts of the brain that control puberty first become active during sleep, but the latest study shows that it is deep sleep, rather than sleep in general, that is associated with this activity.
"If the parts of the brain that activate the reproductive system depend on deep sleep, then we need to be concerned that inadequate or disturbed sleep in children and young adolescents may interfere with normal pubertal maturation," Natalie Shaw, lead researcher from Harvard, said.
"This is particularly true for children who have been diagnosed with sleep disorders, but may also have more widespread implications as recent studies have found that most adolescents get less sleep than they require," she said in a statement.
In the study, researchers examined pulses of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in relation to specific sleep stages in children ages 9-15.
LH is essential for reproduction and triggers ovulation in females and stimulates the production of testosterone in males.
They found that the majority of LH pulses that occur after sleep are preceded by deep sleep suggesting that it is intimately involved in pubertal onset.
The study has been accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM).