Header

UZH-Logo

Maintenance Infos

Brain dynamics during the sleep onset transition: An EEG source localization study


Fernandez Guerrero, Antonio; Achermann, Peter (2019). Brain dynamics during the sleep onset transition: An EEG source localization study. Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, 6:24-34.

Abstract

EEG source localization is an essential tool to reveal the cortical sources underlying brain oscillatory activity. We applied LORETA, a technique of EEG source localization, to identify the principal brain areas involved in the process of falling asleep (sleep onset, SO). We localized the contributing brain areas of activity in the classical frequency bands and tracked their temporal evolution (in 2-min intervals from 2 min prior to SO up to 10 min after SO) during a baseline night and subsequent recovery sleep after total sleep deprivation of 40 h. Delta activity (0.5-5 Hz) gradually increased both in baseline and recovery sleep, starting in frontal areas and finally involving the entire cortex. This increase was steeper in the recovery condition. The evolution of sigma activity (12-16 Hz) resembled an inverted U-shape in both conditions and the activity was most salient in the parietal cortex. In recovery, sigma activity reached its maximum faster than in baseline, but attained lower levels. Theta activity (5-8 Hz) increased with time in large parts of the occipital lobe (baseline and recovery) and in recovery involved additionally frontal areas. Changes in alpha activity (8-12 Hz) at sleep onset involved large areas of the cortex, whereas activity in the beta range (16-24 Hz) was restricted to small cortical areas. The dynamics in recovery could be considered as a "fast-forward version" of the one in baseline. Our results confirm that the process of falling asleep is neither spatially nor temporally a uniform process and that different brain areas might be falling asleep at a different speed potentially reflecting use dependent aspects of sleep regulation.

Abstract

EEG source localization is an essential tool to reveal the cortical sources underlying brain oscillatory activity. We applied LORETA, a technique of EEG source localization, to identify the principal brain areas involved in the process of falling asleep (sleep onset, SO). We localized the contributing brain areas of activity in the classical frequency bands and tracked their temporal evolution (in 2-min intervals from 2 min prior to SO up to 10 min after SO) during a baseline night and subsequent recovery sleep after total sleep deprivation of 40 h. Delta activity (0.5-5 Hz) gradually increased both in baseline and recovery sleep, starting in frontal areas and finally involving the entire cortex. This increase was steeper in the recovery condition. The evolution of sigma activity (12-16 Hz) resembled an inverted U-shape in both conditions and the activity was most salient in the parietal cortex. In recovery, sigma activity reached its maximum faster than in baseline, but attained lower levels. Theta activity (5-8 Hz) increased with time in large parts of the occipital lobe (baseline and recovery) and in recovery involved additionally frontal areas. Changes in alpha activity (8-12 Hz) at sleep onset involved large areas of the cortex, whereas activity in the beta range (16-24 Hz) was restricted to small cortical areas. The dynamics in recovery could be considered as a "fast-forward version" of the one in baseline. Our results confirm that the process of falling asleep is neither spatially nor temporally a uniform process and that different brain areas might be falling asleep at a different speed potentially reflecting use dependent aspects of sleep regulation.

Statistics

Citations

Dimensions.ai Metrics

Altmetrics

Downloads

33 downloads since deposited on 11 Nov 2019
9 downloads since 12 months
Detailed statistics

Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:04 Faculty of Medicine > Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology
07 Faculty of Science > Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology

04 Faculty of Medicine > Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich > Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics
04 Faculty of Medicine > The KEY Institute for Brain-Mind Research
Dewey Decimal Classification:570 Life sciences; biology
610 Medicine & health
Scopus Subject Areas:Health Sciences > Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Life Sciences > Neurology
Health Sciences > Neurology (clinical)
Life Sciences > Behavioral Neuroscience
Uncontrolled Keywords:Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, Behavioral Neuroscience, Neurology, Clinical Neurology
Language:English
Date:1 January 2019
Deposited On:11 Nov 2019 10:50
Last Modified:26 Jan 2022 23:02
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:2451-9944
OA Status:Gold
Free access at:PubMed ID. An embargo period may apply.
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbscr.2018.11.001
PubMed ID:31236519
Project Information:
  • : FunderSNSF
  • : Grant ID32003B_146643
  • : Project TitleSleep onset and other state transitions: insights from quantitative EEG analysis
  • Content: Published Version
  • Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)