Effects of sleep deprivation on maternal behaviour in animal models: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Pires, G. N. and Oliveira, T. B. and Mello, V. F. F. and Bezerra, A. G. and Leenaars, C. H. C. and Ritskes-Hoitinga, M. and Tufik, S. and Andersen, M. L.

J Sleep Res (2021) : e13333

DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13333

Abstract

Pregnancy is a period of numerous physical and emotional changes in women’s lives, including alterations in sleep patterns and worsening of pre-existing sleep disturbances, which possibly lead to impaired postpartum maternal behaviour and mother-infant relationship. The effects of sleep deprivation during pregnancy in maternal behaviour have been evaluated in preclinical studies, but have provided inconsistent results. Thus, in the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of sleep deprivation during pregnancy on maternal behaviour of animals through a systematic review and meta-analyses. After a two-step selection process, six articles were included, all of them describing rat studies. The most frequently used method of sleep deprivation was rapid eye movement sleep restriction, using the multiple-platform method. Four meta-analyses were performed, none of them presenting significant impact of sleep deprivation on maternal behaviour, failing to reproduce the results observed in previous clinical studies. In conclusion, our results show a lack of translational applicability of animal models to evaluate the effects of sleep deprivation during pregnancy on maternal behaviour.

Citation

Pires, G. N., Oliveira, T. B., Mello, V. F. F., Bezerra, A. G., Leenaars, C. H. C., Ritskes-Hoitinga, M., Tufik, S., & Andersen, M. L. (2021). Effects of sleep deprivation on maternal behaviour in animal models: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sleep Res, e13333. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13333 pregnancy, animal behaviour, maternal care, postpartum depression, sleep

Keywords

• pregnancy
• animal behaviour
• maternal care
• postpartum depression
• sleep