M.D. Nathalie Pattyn is Ass. professor in human performance at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, and at the Department of Physiology at the Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). She is an expert in applied operational sleep research, with a particular interest in polar research. She and hear team visit UiT Arctic University in June and will present and discuss their findings from conducting sleep research in the Antartica for the past 15 years.
Hvor: Helsefak MH1, Auditorium 1
Abstract: Sleep complaints are consistently cited as the most prominent health problem in Antarctic expeditions. Whereas the precise mechanisms underlying these disturbances are still not elucidated, several areas of research have pointed in the direction of possible causes. Firstly, chronobiology studies suggest disturbances in melatonin secretion, that might be associated with sleep disturbances. Secondly, mood disturbances are known to interact with sleep problems, both as cause and effect. With regard to Antarctic sojourns, several clusters of symptoms have been suggested to have an association with sleep disorders, such as a) the polar T3 syndrome, which mimics subclinical hypothyroidism; b) the winter-over syndrome, a term coined to describe the association of mood and sleep disturbances; or, c) a sub-syndromal seasonal affective disorder. Lastly, the lack of physical activity and the sensory deprivation due to long-duration isolation and confinement have been hypothesized to be a potential detrimental influence to sleep.
The present communication will summarize our research findings from both summer campaigns and overwintering studies at several Antarctic stations, namely Princess Elizabeth, Concordia, Dumont d’Urville and Halley VI, over the past 15 years. Furthermore, to disentangle the psychophysiological adaptation to "living on deployment" from the physiological adaptation to high latitudes, we are currently setting up a new research campaign, and thus are looking for healthy participants, to perform similar measurements in Arctic populations living above the Arctic circle, in both summer and winter.
For more information about Antartica and the sub-Arctic project, click here to read further (secured link to UiT website).