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Bellesi M, Riedner BA, Garcia-Molina GN, et al. Enhancement of sleep slow waves: underlying mechanisms and practical consequences. Front Syst Neurosci. 2014;8:208doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00208.
Bellesi, M., Riedner, B. A., Garcia-Molina, G. N., Cirelli, C., & Tononi, G. (2014). Enhancement of sleep slow waves: underlying mechanisms and practical consequences. Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 8208. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00208
Bellesi, Michele, et al. "Enhancement of sleep slow waves: underlying mechanisms and practical consequences." Frontiers in systems neuroscience vol. 8 (2014): 208. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00208
Bellesi M, Riedner BA, Garcia-Molina GN, Cirelli C, Tononi G. Enhancement of sleep slow waves: underlying mechanisms and practical consequences. Front Syst Neurosci. 2014 Oct 28;8:208. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00208. eCollection 2014. PMID: 25389394; PMCID: PMC4211398.
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Front Syst Neurosci. 2014 Oct 28;8:208. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00208. eCollection 2014.

Enhancement of sleep slow waves: underlying mechanisms and practical consequences.

Frontiers in systems neuroscience

Michele Bellesi, Brady A Riedner, Gary N Garcia-Molina, Chiara Cirelli, Giulio Tononi

Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI, USA.
  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI, USA ; Clinical Sites Research Program, Philips Group Innovation Briarcliff, NY, USA.

PMID: 25389394 PMCID: PMC4211398 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00208

Abstract

Even modest sleep restriction, especially the loss of sleep slow wave activity (SWA), is invariably associated with slower electroencephalogram (EEG) activity during wake, the occurrence of local sleep in an otherwise awake brain, and impaired performance due to cognitive and memory deficits. Recent studies not only confirm the beneficial role of sleep in memory consolidation, but also point to a specific role for sleep slow waves. Thus, the implementation of methods to enhance sleep slow waves without unwanted arousals or lightening of sleep could have significant practical implications. Here we first review the evidence that it is possible to enhance sleep slow waves in humans using transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Since these methods are currently impractical and their safety is questionable, especially for chronic long-term exposure, we then discuss novel data suggesting that it is possible to enhance slow waves using sensory stimuli. We consider the physiology of the K-complex (KC), a peripheral evoked slow wave, and show that, among different sensory modalities, acoustic stimulation is the most effective in increasing the magnitude of slow waves, likely through the activation of non-lemniscal ascending pathways to the thalamo-cortical system. In addition, we discuss how intensity and frequency of the acoustic stimuli, as well as exact timing and pattern of stimulation, affect sleep enhancement. Finally, we discuss automated algorithms that read the EEG and, in real-time, adjust the stimulation parameters in a closed-loop manner to obtain an increase in sleep slow waves and avoid undesirable arousals. In conclusion, while discussing the mechanisms that underlie the generation of sleep slow waves, we review the converging evidence showing that acoustic stimulation is safe and represents an ideal tool for slow wave sleep (SWS) enhancement.

Keywords: EEG; NREM sleep; acoustic stimulation; arousal systems; closed-loop

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