Journal of Sleep Research 2021; e13514. pp.1-13 (2021)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13514; Free full-text
Bódizs R1,2, Horváth CG1, Szalárdy O1,3, Ujma PP1,2, Simor PP1,4,5, Gombos F6,7, Kovács I6, Genzel L8, Dresler M8
1Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
2National Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Budapest, Hungary
3Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
4Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
5UR2NF, Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Unit at CRCN – Center for Research in Cognition and Neurosciences and UNI – ULB Neurosciences Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
6Department of General Psychology, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary
7MTA-PPKE Adolescent Development Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
8Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Summary
Homeostatic and circadian processes play a pivotal role in determining sleep structure, timing, and quality. In sharp contrast with the wide accessibility of the electroencephalogram (EEG) index of sleep homeostasis, an electrophysiological measure of the circadian modulation of sleep is still unavailable. Evidence suggests that sleep-spindle frequencies decelerate during biological night. In order to test the feasibility of measuring this marker in common polysomnographic protocols, the Budapest-Munich database of sleep records (N = 251 healthy subjects, 122 females, age range: 4–69 years), as well as an afternoon nap sleep record database (N = 112 healthy subjects, 30 females, age range: 18–30 years) were analysed by the individual adjustment method of sleep-spindle analysis. Slow and fast sleep-spindle frequencies were characterised by U-shaped overnight dynamics, with highest values in the first and the fourth-to-fifth sleep cycle and the lowest values in the middle of the sleeping period (cycles two to three). Age-related attenuation of sleep-spindle deceleration was evident. Estimated phases of the nadirs in sleep-spindle frequencies were advanced in children as compared to other age groups. Additionally, nap sleep spindles were faster than night sleep spindles (0.57 and 0.39 Hz difference for slow and fast types, respectively). The fine frequency resolution analysis of sleep spindles is a feasible method of measuring the assumed circadian modulation of sleep. Moreover, age-related attenuation of circadian sleep modulation might be measurable by assessing the overnight dynamics in sleep-spindle frequency. Phase of the minimal sleep-spindle frequency is a putative biomarker of chronotype.