Mathilde Spiess1, Giulio Bernardi2, Salome Kurth3, Maya Ringli4, Flavia M Wehrle4, Oskar G Jenni4, Reto Huber5, Francesca Siclari6. 1. Child Development Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Center for Investigation and Research on Sleep, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. 2. Center for Investigation and Research on Sleep, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland; MoMiLab Unit, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Lucca, Italy. 3. Division of Pulmonology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. 4. Child Development Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. 5. Child Development Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: reto.huber@kispi.uzh.ch. 6. Center for Investigation and Research on Sleep, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: francesca.siclari@chuv.ch.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Slow waves, the hallmarks of non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) sleep, are thought to reflect maturational changes that occur in the cerebral cortex throughout childhood and adolescence. Recent work in adults has revealed evidence for two distinct synchronization processes involved in the generation of slow waves, which sequentially come into play in the transition to sleep. In order to understand how these two processes are affected by developmental changes, we compared slow waves between children and young adults in the falling asleep period. METHODS: The sleep onset period (starting 30s before end of alpha activity and ending at the first slow wave sequence) was extracted from 72 sleep onset high-density EEG recordings (128 electrodes) of 49 healthy subjects (age 8-25). Using an automatic slow wave detection algorithm, the number, amplitude and slope of slow waves were analyzed and compared between children (age 8-11) and young adults (age 20-25). RESULTS: Slow wave number and amplitude increased linearly in the falling asleep period in children, while in young adults, isolated high-amplitude slow waves (type I) dominated initially and numerous smaller slow waves (type II) with progressively increasing amplitude occurred later. Compared to young adults, children displayed faster increases in slow wave amplitude and number across the falling asleep period in central and posterior brain regions, respectively, and also showed larger slow waves during wakefulness immediately prior to sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Children do not display the two temporally dissociated slow wave synchronization processes in the falling asleep period observed in adults, suggesting that maturational factors underlie the temporal segregation of these two processes. Our findings provide novel perspectives for studying how sleep-related behaviors and dreaming differ between children and adults.
INTRODUCTION: Slow waves, the hallmarks of non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) sleep, are thought to reflect maturational changes that occur in the cerebral cortex throughout childhood and adolescence. Recent work in adults has revealed evidence for two distinct synchronization processes involved in the generation of slow waves, which sequentially come into play in the transition to sleep. In order to understand how these two processes are affected by developmental changes, we compared slow waves between children and young adults in the falling asleep period. METHODS: The sleep onset period (starting 30s before end of alpha activity and ending at the first slow wave sequence) was extracted from 72 sleep onset high-density EEG recordings (128 electrodes) of 49 healthy subjects (age 8-25). Using an automatic slow wave detection algorithm, the number, amplitude and slope of slow waves were analyzed and compared between children (age 8-11) and young adults (age 20-25). RESULTS: Slow wave number and amplitude increased linearly in the falling asleep period in children, while in young adults, isolated high-amplitude slow waves (type I) dominated initially and numerous smaller slow waves (type II) with progressively increasing amplitude occurred later. Compared to young adults, children displayed faster increases in slow wave amplitude and number across the falling asleep period in central and posterior brain regions, respectively, and also showed larger slow waves during wakefulness immediately prior to sleep. CONCLUSIONS:Children do not display the two temporally dissociated slow wave synchronization processes in the falling asleep period observed in adults, suggesting that maturational factors underlie the temporal segregation of these two processes. Our findings provide novel perspectives for studying how sleep-related behaviors and dreaming differ between children and adults.
Authors: Massimiliano de Zambotti; Aimee Goldstone; Mohamad Forouzanfar; Harold Javitz; Stephanie Claudatos; Ian M Colrain; Fiona C Baker Journal: Sleep Date: 2020-06-15 Impact factor: 5.849
Authors: Anna Castelnovo; Althea Lividini; Giulio Bernardi; Valdo Pezzoli; Giuseppe Foderaro; Gian Paolo Ramelli; Mauro Manconi; Silvia Miano Journal: Children (Basel) Date: 2022-02-03