Brain topography of the human sleep EEG: antero‐posterior shifts of spectral power

TO investigate the brain topography of the human sleep EEG along the antero-posterior axis, spectra (0.25–25 Hz; 1 Hz bins) were computed from all-night EEG recordings (n = 20 subjects) obtained from an anterior (F3-C3) and a posterior (P3-O1) derivation. State-dependent and frequency-dependent topographic differences were observed. In non-rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, power in the anterior derivation was higher than in the posterior derivation in the 2 Hz bin, and lower in the 4–10 Hz bins. In REM sleep, a posterior dominance was present in most bins below 18 Hz. The 2–6 Hz bins exhibited an antero-posterior shift of power over consecutive non-REM sleep episodes. Consistent shifts of power were also present within non-REM sleep episodes. The results suggest that anterior and posterior cortical regions may be differently involved in the sleep process.

[1]  Derk-Jan Dijk,et al.  EEG slow waves and sleep spindles: windows on the sleeping brain , 1995, Behavioural Brain Research.

[2]  C Liard,et al.  Topographical distribution of delta rhythms during sleep: evolution with age. , 1981, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[3]  T Hori,et al.  Spatiotemporal changes of EEG activity during waking-sleeping transition period. , 1985, The International journal of neuroscience.

[4]  H. Jasper.  Report of the committee on methods of clinical examination in electroencephalography , 1958 .

[5]  E. Wolpert.  A Manual of Standardized Terminology, Techniques and Scoring System for Sleep Stages of Human Subjects. , 1969 .

[6]  T. Sejnowski,et al.  Thalamocortical oscillations in the sleeping and aroused brain. , 1993, Science.

[7]  L Goldstein,et al.  Changes in interhemispheric amplitude relationships in the EEG during sleep. , 1972, Physiology & behavior.

[8]  D. Dijk,et al.  Effect of unilateral somatosensory stimulation prior to sleep on the sleep EEG in humans , 1994, Journal of sleep research.

[9]  J. Horne.  Human Sleep, Sleep Loss and Behaviour , 1993, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[10]  A. Borbély,et al.  All‐night dynamics of the human sleep EEG , 1993, Journal of sleep research.

[11]  G. Pfurtscheller,et al.  Event-related cortical desynchronization detected by power measurements of scalp EEG. , 1977, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[12]  S. Guillou,et al.  EEG cartography of a night of sleep and dreams. A longitudinal study with provoked awakenings. , 1986, Neuropsychobiology.