Sleep is characterized by coordinated cortical and cardiac oscillations reflecting communication between the central (CNS) and autonomic (ANS) nervous systems. Here, we review fluctuations in ANS activity in association with CNS-defined sleep stages and cycles, and with phasic cortical events during sleep (e.g., arousals, K-complexes). Recent novel analytic methods reveal a dynamic organization of integrated physiological networks during sleep and indicate how multiple factors (e.g., sleep structure, age, sleep disorders) affect “CNS-ANS coupling”. However, these data are mostly correlational and there is a lack of clarity of the underlying physiology, making it challenging to interpret causality and direction of coupling. Experimental manipulations (e.g., evoking K-complexes or arousals) provide information on the precise temporal sequence of cortical-cardiac activity, and are useful for investigating physiological pathways underlying CNS-ANS coupling. With the emergence of new analytical approaches and a renewed interest in ANS and CNS communication during sleep, future work may reveal novel insights into sleep and cardiovascular interactions during health and disease, in which coupling could be adversely impacted.

睡眠的特点是皮层和心脏的协调振荡，反映了中枢 (CNS) 和自主 (ANS) 神经系统之间的沟通。在这里，我们回顾了 ANS 活动的波动与 CNS 定义的睡眠阶段和周期，以及睡眠期间的阶段性皮层事件（例如唤醒、K 复合体）的关系。最近的新颖分析方法揭示了睡眠期间综合生理网络的动态组织，并表明多种因素（例如睡眠结构、年龄、睡眠障碍）如何影响“ CNS-ANS 耦合”。然而，这些数据大多是相关的，并且缺乏基础生理学的清晰度，使得解释因果关系和耦合方向具有挑战性。实验操作（例如，唤起 K 复合体或唤醒）提供了有关皮质-心脏活动的精确时间序列的信息，并且对于研究CNS-ANS 耦合的生理通路非常有用。随着新的分析方法的出现以及人们对睡眠期间 ANS 和 CNS 通信的新兴趣，未来的工作可能会揭示健康和疾病期间睡眠和心血管相互作用的新见解，其中耦合可能会受到不利影响。