Running wheel accessibility affects the regional electroencephalogram during sleep in mice.

Regional aspects of sleep homeostasis were investigated in mice provided with a running wheel for several weeks. Electroencephalogram (EEG) spectra of the primary motor (frontal) and somatosensory cortex (parietal) were recorded for three consecutive days. On a single day (day 2) the wheel was locked to prevent running. Wheel running correlated negatively with the frontal-parietal ratio of slow-wave activity (EEG power between 0.75 and 4.0 Hz) in the first 2 h after sleep onset (r = -0.60; P < 0.01). On day 2 frontal EEG power (2.25-8.0 Hz) in non-rapid eye movement sleep exceeded the level of the previous day, indicating that the diverse behaviors replacing wheel-running elicited more pronounced regional EEG differences. The frontal-parietal power ratio of the lower frequency bin (0.75-1.0 Hz) in the first 2 h of sleep after dark onset correlated positively with the duration of the preceding waking (r = 0.64; P < 0.001), whereas the power ratio in the remaining frequencies of the delta band (1.25-4.0 Hz) was unrelated to waking. The data suggest that in mice EEG power in the lower frequency, corresponding to the slow oscillations described in cats and humans, is related to local sleep homeostasis.