Circadian regulation of slow waves in human sleep:Topographical aspects

Lazar, Alpar S, Lazar, Zsolt I and Dijk, Derk-Jan (2015) Circadian regulation of slow waves in human sleep:Topographical aspects. NeuroImage, 116. pp. 123-134. ISSN 1053-8119

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Abstract

Slow waves (SWs, 0.5-4Hz) in field potentials during sleep reflect synchronized alternations between bursts of action potentials and periods of membrane hyperpolarization of cortical neurons. SWs decline during sleep and this is thought to be related to a reduction of synaptic strength in cortical networks and to be central to sleep's role in maintaining brain function. A central assumption in current concepts of sleep function is that SWs during sleep, and associated recovery processes, are independent of circadian rhythmicity. We tested this hypothesis by quantifying all SWs from 12 EEG derivations in 34 participants in whom 231 sleep periods were scheduled across the circadian cycle in a 10-day forced-desynchrony protocol which allowed estimation of the separate circadian and sleep-dependent modulation of SWs. Circadian rhythmicity significantly modulated the incidence, amplitude, frequency and the slope of the SWs such that the peaks of the circadian rhythms in these slow-wave parameters were located during the biological day. Topographical analyses demonstrated that the sleep-dependent modulation of SW characteristics was most prominent in frontal brain areas whereas the circadian effect was similar to or greater than the sleep-dependent modulation over the central and posterior brain regions. The data demonstrate that circadian rhythmicity directly modulates characteristics of SWs thought to be related to synaptic plasticity and that this modulation depends on topography. These findings have implications for the understanding of local sleep regulation and conditions such as ageing, depression, and neurodegeneration which are associated with changes in SWs, neural plasticity and circadian rhythmicity.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence
Uncontrolled Keywords: adult,brain waves,cerebral cortex,circadian rhythm,electroencephalography,female,humans,male,sleep,sleep stages,young adult
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 07 Dec 2016 00:07
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2023 01:52
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/61607
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.05.012

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