TY - JOUR
T1 - Interplay between spontaneous and induced brain activity during human non-rapid eye movement sleep
AU - Dang-Vu, Thien Thanh
AU - Bonjean, Maxime
AU - Schabus, Manuel
AU - Boly, Mélanie
AU - Darsaud, Annabelle
AU - Desseilles, Martin
AU - Degueldre, Christian
AU - Balteau, Evelyne
AU - Phillips, Christophe
AU - Luxen, André
AU - Sejnowski, Terrence J
AU - Maquet, Pierre
PY - 2011/9/13
Y1 - 2011/9/13
N2 - Humans are less responsive to the surrounding environment during sleep. However, the extent to which the human brain responds to external stimuli during sleep is uncertain. We used simultaneous EEG and functional MRI to characterize brain responses to tones during wakefulness and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Sounds during wakefulness elicited responses in the thalamus and primary auditory cortex. These responses persisted in NREM sleep, except throughout spindles, during which they became less consistent. When sounds induced a K complex, activity in the auditory cortex was enhanced and responses in distant frontal areas were elicited, similar to the stereotypical pattern associated with slow oscillations. These data show that sound processing during NREM sleep is constrained by fundamental brain oscillatory modes (slow oscillations and spindles), which result in a complex interplay between spontaneous and induced brain activity. The distortion of sensory information at the thalamic level, especially during spindles, functionally isolates the cortex from the environment and might provide unique conditions favorable for off-line memory processing.
AB - Humans are less responsive to the surrounding environment during sleep. However, the extent to which the human brain responds to external stimuli during sleep is uncertain. We used simultaneous EEG and functional MRI to characterize brain responses to tones during wakefulness and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Sounds during wakefulness elicited responses in the thalamus and primary auditory cortex. These responses persisted in NREM sleep, except throughout spindles, during which they became less consistent. When sounds induced a K complex, activity in the auditory cortex was enhanced and responses in distant frontal areas were elicited, similar to the stereotypical pattern associated with slow oscillations. These data show that sound processing during NREM sleep is constrained by fundamental brain oscillatory modes (slow oscillations and spindles), which result in a complex interplay between spontaneous and induced brain activity. The distortion of sensory information at the thalamic level, especially during spindles, functionally isolates the cortex from the environment and might provide unique conditions favorable for off-line memory processing.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Audiometry, Pure-Tone
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - Electroencephalography
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Sleep, REM
KW - Wakefulness
KW - Young Adult
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1112503108
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1112503108
M3 - Article
C2 - 21896732
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 108
SP - 15438
EP - 15443
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 37
ER -