The first-night effect of sleep occurs over nonconsecutive nights in unfamiliar and familiar environments

Abstract The first night in an unfamiliar environment is marked by reduced sleep quality and changes in sleep architecture. This so-called first-night effect (FNE) is well established for two consecutive nights and lays the foundation for including an adaptation night in sleep research to counteract FNEs. However, adaptation nights rarely happen immediately before experimental nights, which raises the question of how sleep adapts over nonconsecutive nights. Furthermore, it is yet unclear, how environmental familiarity and hemispheric asymmetry of slow-wave sleep (SWS) contribute to the explanation of FNEs. To address this gap, 45 healthy participants spent two weekly separated nights in the sleep laboratory. In a separate study, we investigated the influence of environmental familiarity on 30 participants who spent two nonconsecutive nights in the sleep laboratory and two nights at home. Sleep was recorded by polysomnography. Results of both studies show that FNEs also occur in nonconsecutive nights, particularly affecting wake after sleep onset, sleep onset latency, and total sleep time. Sleep disturbances in the first night happen in both familiar and unfamiliar environments. The degree of asymmetric SWS was not correlated with the FNE but rather tended to vary over the course of several nights. Our findings suggest that nonconsecutive adaptation nights are effective in controlling for FNEs, justifying the current practice in basic sleep research. Further research should focus on trait- and fluctuating state-like components explaining interhemispheric asymmetries.