Behavioral control of abnormal breathing in sleep.

Behavioral control of abnormal breathing in sleep was studied to determine if an intervention procedure could reduce apnea duration and also SaO2 (blood oxygen) desaturation levels. Sleep apnea patients (n = 11) were instructed while awake that tones would be presented in sleep whenever an apnea event occurred. They were told to breathe deeply to the tones and were given practice in doing so. Intervention and nonintervention hours alternated across 2 nights following 2 baseline nights. As expected, during the intervention hours, the duration but not the frequency of apneic events was reduced. The procedure also resulted in higher SaO2 levels during the intervention hours. Daytime sleepiness was not greater following intervention but sleep staging effects were observed. The results are sufficiently promising to warrant additional research.