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. 2007 Aug 7;104(32):13164-9.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0703084104. Epub 2007 Aug 1.

Hemodynamic cerebral correlates of sleep spindles during human non-rapid eye movement sleep

M Schabus  1 , T T Dang-Vu, G Albouy, E Balteau, M Boly, J Carrier, A Darsaud, C Degueldre, M Desseilles, S Gais, C Phillips, G Rauchs, C Schnakers, V Sterpenich, G Vandewalle, A Luxen, P Maquet
Affiliations

Hemodynamic cerebral correlates of sleep spindles during human non-rapid eye movement sleep

M Schabus et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

In humans, some evidence suggests that there are two different types of spindles during sleep, which differ by their scalp topography and possibly some aspects of their regulation. To test for the existence of two different spindle types, we characterized the activity associated with slow (11-13 Hz) and fast (13-15 Hz) spindles, identified as discrete events during non-rapid eye movement sleep, in non-sleep-deprived human volunteers, using simultaneous electroencephalography and functional MRI. An activation pattern common to both spindle types involved the thalami, paralimbic areas (anterior cingulate and insular cortices), and superior temporal gyri. No thalamic difference was detected in the direct comparison between slow and fast spindles although some thalamic areas were preferentially activated in relation to either spindle type. Beyond the common activation pattern, the increases in cortical activity differed significantly between the two spindle types. Slow spindles were associated with increased activity in the superior frontal gyrus. In contrast, fast spindles recruited a set of cortical regions involved in sensorimotor processing, as well as the mesial frontal cortex and hippocampus. The recruitment of partially segregated cortical networks for slow and fast spindles further supports the existence of two spindle types during human non-rapid eye movement sleep, with potentially different functional significance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
EEG characterization of sleep spindles. (a) Example of a typical EEG recording (stage 2 sleep; 0.1 to 70 Hz) after scanner and pulse artifact correction, depicting a fast posterior (Pz, left side) and a slow anterior (Fz, right side) spindle. (b) EEG scalp topography of the average spindle band power between 11–13 (left) and 13–15 Hz (right). For display the average normalized spindle power of all slow and fast sleep spindles (detected on Cz) was computed at each channel and between 11–13 and 13–15 Hz, respectively. Slow sigma power predominates over frontal central regions whereas fast sigma power is mainly expressed over centro-parietal areas. Nose is upwards, right is rightwards. (c) Spindle-triggered average revealing the underlying slow oscillation. EEG data (0.5–4 Hz) were averaged with respect to the onset of all sleep spindles. Spindles start (t = 0) on the depolarizing phase of the oscillation, which on average are of much smaller amplitude than the classical full blown slow waves of deep slow-wave sleep. The classical phase lag from frontal (Fz, black) to central (Cz, red) and parietal (Pz, blue) areas and the maximal slow wave amplitude at the frontal recording site are also depicted.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Main effects of slow and fast sleep spindles. (a–e Left) fMRI responses to slow spindles displayed over an individual structural image normalized to the Montreal Neurological Institute space (Puncorrected < 0.001). The leftmost panels show peristimulus time histograms (PSTHs) depicting the responses in auditory cortices (circled) (a), thalamus (b), anterior cingulate (circled) and midbrain tegmentum (dotted) (c), anterior insula (d), and superior frontal gyrus (e). The PSTH (solid blue line; blue error bars reflect the SEM) depicts the mean response across spindles of the corresponding voxel, irrespective of contrast based on a finite impulse response refit. The fitted response is drawn in black. (f–i Center) Conjunction analysis of slow and fast sleep spindles. (j–m Right) fMRI responses to fast spindles (Puncorrected < 0.001). The rightmost panels show PSTHs depicting the response in superior temporal gyri (j), thalami (k), mid cingulate cortex (circled) and SMA (dotted) (l), and anterior insula (m).
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Differential fMRI activity between fast and slow spindles. Larger brain responses for fast (red) than slow (black) spindles were revealed in the hippocampus (a), mesial prefrontal cortex (b), precentral gyrus (c), and postcentral gyrus (d). Peristimulus time histograms show mean response of the corresponding voxels (dotted lines; error bars show SEM) and the corresponding fitted responses (continuous lines).
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